Rugby: Gavin Henson

Gavin Henson is one of the biggest names in Northern Hemisphere rugby, yet in recent times he has been garnering more headlines for the amount of time he is spending off the field rather than on it. For all his celebrity, Henson has achieved very little on the field. He has appeared in two grand slam winning Wales teams, and was selected for the 2005 Lions tour, but for a player with such talent, and the subject of such hype and attention, his impact on the field really boils down to a handful of moments. This week, the news that he has been excluded from the Ospreys’ Heineken Cup squad has led to a couple of good pieces in the press, as his injury-induced indefinite leave from the game drags on.

As former Welsh international Mark Ring puts it in one article:

"What has he really done? Kick a long-range penalty to beat England and dump an 18-year-old kid [Mathew Tait, in that England match in 2005] on his backside. For a guy with so much natural talent it's not a great return."

Put simply, Henson has achieved little of substance despite a lot of fuss. Even in the 2005 grand slam, he was arguably no better than Tom Shanklin, his partner at centre, who lacks the modelling contracts and celebrity partner, and therefore gets much less attention. Yet he is clearly a genuinely talented player, with all the skills to be one of the best in the world.

Henson’s celebrity and diffident attitude has never really attracted much sympathy. However, if there has been one benefit of his time away from the game, it has been that it has allowed a more balanced assessment of his character, and a recognition that despite the way he has seemingly courted the limelight, in reality he is a somewhat conflicted personality, who has struggled with the pressures placed upon him. There may be something in the suggestion that he would be better off moving to another club, in order to find an environment where he can be more at ease. Perhaps moving to an English or a French club would suit him better. The French have a more laid back approach to the game, and he would be less well known over there, whilst in England, were he to sign for a London club for instance, he would be just one of many famous faces in a big city, and less likely to feel like he is in a goldfish bowl.

Henson appears to be at a crossroads then. Some of his problems are undoubtedly self-inflicted, especially his bad behaviour in public, but he has also suffered from ill-timed injuries that have affected his morale. He needs to decide whether or not he loves the game enough to carry on, and if he does, then he needs to accept that there are certain things required of him as a professional:

"Henson's misfortune is little compared to that suffered by Jonny Wilkinson since England won the 2003 World Cup, But whereas Wilkinson was born to be a professional sportsman, devoting most of his waking hours to rugby, Henson is a freer spirit who gets his satisfaction out of playing rather than preparation or talking about the game."

It is sad to see any player drift away from the game with their talent unfulfilled, especially one who has the potential to light up the biggest of stages, and aged 27, Henson realistically has a 5 year window to make his mark.