Ulster hold onto Henry

Henry made his Ulster debut in January 2009 in a European Cup match against Harlequins and has represented the Province on 156 occasions, scoring 10 tries.

The 32-year-old has also won 24 caps for Ireland since making his international bow, versus Australia, in 2010.

Henry attended Wallace High School and is a graduate of the Hughes Insurance Ulster Rugby Academy.

"Les [Kiss] is determined to build a successful future for Ulster Rugby and I want to be part of that vision," said Henry. "I believe that the squad depth is improving year-on-year, with Bryn's [Cunningham] ongoing retention and recruitment of players leaving us in a strong position over the next few seasons.

"We have a core group of experienced players and have a developing pathway of talented youngsters coming through. I want to deliver on the pitch for Ulster but I also want to ensure that I'm assisting the Academy players, who have aspirations to play professional rugby.

"The Ulster supporters are first class and there is no better feeling than playing in front of a packed house at Kingspan Stadium. I feel lucky to be part of a great environment and I'm delighted to commit my future to Ulster.

Ulster's Director of Rugby Les Kiss added: "Chris has been a key player for Ulster Rugby for a number of years and he represents everything that is good about the organisation. His integrity, commitment, passion and good humour are contagious qualities that make him a fantastic person to have within our squad.

"He has been unfortunate with injuries and illness over the past couple of seasons but he has worked extremely hard to get back onto the pitch and I've no doubt that he'll be a massive asset for us over the next couple of seasons.

"The player market is becoming increasingly competitive as a result of big budgets in France and England, but I'm delighted, as I'm sure the supporters will be, that we've been able to retain Chris until at least 2019."