Gavin Henson, Gavin Henson, Gavin Henson. After the latest episode in the soap opera that is his unfulfilled career – being sacked by the Cardiff Blues after drinking and behaving inappropriately on an early morning flight back from Edinburgh – the mention of his name doesn’t evoke much sympathy for his current plight. Rather, the phrases ‘wasted talent’, ‘over-rated’, ‘foolish’, ‘arrogant’, ‘trouble’ and ‘not surprised’ loom larger in my head.
Yes, despite the steady stream of on and off-field controversies that have dogged his career (that have included inappropriate drunken behaviour, a revelatory autobiography and unproven accusations of eye-gouging leveled at Brian O’Driscoll) the Cardiff Blues have surprisingly been criticised by several Welsh players and coaches (of which, it should be noted, most are former colleagues) for sacking a player flagrantly breaking his club’s disciplinary code by drinking on a public flight after a game.
Notwithstanding the fact that consuming a skin-full of alcohol after as physically an intense sport as rugby won’t improve the condition of any elite level athlete, Henson isn’t an ‘inexperienced’ or ‘naive’ player guilty of youthful exuberance. He’s 30 years old and armed with the knowledge that playing for Cardiff was akin to being in the last chance saloon following his premature exits from both Saracens and Toulon – the later, after being suspended for breaching the club’s disciplinary code – he quite simply should have been on his best behaviour. If you then consider the impact that recent negative alcohol-fuelled headlines have had on the game and careers of Messer’s Care and Powell, Cardiff don’t need to justify or apologise for sacking a player who repeatedly fails to fall in line with club officials, team-mates and the law. Much like another controversial sportsman playing in these shores donning blue, this will only damage the image, integrity and success of any club.
Whilst Henson’s most vocal supporter in the aftermath of his sacking – his former coach at the Ospreys Lyn Jones – claims his dismissal is ‘inexcusable’, the game of rugby is trying to distance itself from the prehistoric notion that drinking is an essential part of its fabric. Stuart Lancaster’s firm stance on Danny Care and the Welsh team’s self-imposed drinking ban at last year’s Rugby World Cup are testament to that. What Jones and everyone should remember is that this behaviour is in keeping with a player whose internal demons have restricted him to a paltry 33 international caps when it’s universally accepted he should have accumulated many more.
Regardless of whether you’re in agreement with the author that Henson is a media-hyped, over rated player who wasn’t actually that central to either of the 2005 and 2008 Welsh Grand Slam successes he was involved with, the cold facts are that this is a player who has…admitted to vandalising toilets at a post-tournament celebration; has been forced to apologise to team-mates after upsetting them with his autobiography; and has been reprimanded and suspended by more than one former club for breaching internal discipline.
Echoing the words of Welsh rugby great Jonathan Davies, Cardiff Blues gave Henson yet another opportunity but he has messed it up again. So I’m afraid, the only place where any blame should be aimed for his sacking is at the door of Gavin Henson.
iheartsport 