Saturday, 24th December 2005
Rugby

Sat 24 Dec 2005

Ban rules Henson out of three Six Nations games
GAVIN Henson's nightmare end to 2005 was completed in Glasgow yesterday when he was banned from the game for ten weeks, which rules him out of Wales' opening RBS Six Nations Championship clashes with England, Scotland and Ireland.

The 23-year-old international only returned three weeks ago from a six-month injury lay-off, but in his second game for the Neath-Swansea Ospreys against Leicester, in the Heineken Cup on Sunday, he deliberately elbowed Alejandro Moreno and broke the prop's nose. Henson was cited by match commissioner Bill Dunlop, the Scottish sheriff who started 2005 by creating a new system of governance for the SRU, and a panel chaired by Rod McKenzie yesterday upheld the citing and banned Henson until Sunday, 5 March, 2006.


Also missing a host of Heineken Cup and Celtic League games, it is doubtful whether he will take any part in the Six Nations as Wales will host Italy only six days after his suspension ends and then France, in their final match, the following week. Another young Wales star, Ian Evans, was also banned for eight weeks for stamping on England scrum-half Harry Ellis in the same match - Ellis required surgery to remove damaged cartilage - which rules the lock out of matches against England and Scotland.

Henson refused to comment after emerging from the hearing in a Glasgow lawyer's office, but Ospreys team manager Derwyn Jones confirmed: "We are very disappointed with both verdicts and we will now consider our position as to whether or not to appeal the sanctions imposed."

He perhaps faced the wrong judges as an entirely Scottish discipline panel later decided against any extra punishment for Saracens prop Kevin Yates, who had received a yellow card for punching an Ulster player in Saturday's Heineken Cup match, and threw out citings of Ulster pair Justin Harrison and Matt McCullough on the same charges of striking an opponent.

Henson's suspension, however, adds to a plethora of headlines on the front and back of newspapers across the world in a year which brought incredible joy but greater misery for the youngster. It all seemed so different for the mercurial player when he kicked a long-range penalty in February to clinch victory for Wales over England and ignite a run to the nation's first Grand Slam in 27 years.

The skilful young centre, first recognised in 2001 when he was voted the IRB Young Player of the Year, was then lauded as the star of a large Welsh contingent selected for the British and Irish Lions tour. He attracted widespread attention due to his romance with Charlotte Church, the famous Welsh singer, and though he insisted he wanted his rugby to do his talking, the appearance of Church in New Zealand - where she spoke of "tiring Gavin out" after a few nights in his hotel room - and his instantly recognisable spiked and dyed hair ensured the cameras followed his every move.

As is the case with Wales supporters, what a player does on the rugby field is all they tend to care about in New Zealand, but Henson was left a frustrated observer for the first Test when Sir Clive Woodward opted instead to play England stand-off Jonny Wilkinson in Henson's position and leave the Welshman out of the 22.

Henson made known his unhappiness and there were rumours that his parents had persuaded him against quitting the camp. Two tries and a man-of-the-match award against part-time outfit Southland was the perfect response, and it won him a place in the second Test, but the All Blacks posted a record 48 points in a convincing victory and Henson walked off the game and out of the tour with a shoulder injury. He duly joined Woodward, spin doctor Alastair Campbell and other aspects of the tour in becoming objects of derision as having failed to match their hype.

After undergoing an operation to cure the groin problem, Henson sparked controversy when he criticised Woodward, Campbell, Lions skipper Brian O'Driscoll and other players, as well as Wales teammates, in a book written with a Welsh journalist. Interestingly, O'Driscoll's uncle Dr Barry, of the Irish Rugby Football Union, was a member of yesterday's disciplinary panel.

This article was posted on 24-Dec-2005, 09:28 by Hugh Barrow.