Alan Good
BACK in October, this column penned a scathing article about Gavin Henson, and while trying to correlate the man’s talent and ego with his achievements in the game, conveniently forgot to mention the 2008 Grand Slam he won with Wales.
It was a careless error, and one that prompted plenty of deserved opprobrium from across the water in Wales, where they are understandably protective of their rugby heroes.
However, after the latest twist in the Henson saga, even his most ardent supporters will find it difficult to defend him. How frustrating it is for fans and neutrals alike that this supremely gifted sportsman continues to press the self-destruct button just when things look to be going his way.
Having taken a sabbatical from rugby in April 2009, Henson successfully pushed for a move from the Ospreys to Saracens, fuelled by a desire to make the cut for the Welsh World Cup squad having been left out in 2003 and 2007.
Barely a month into his tenure there, he was agitating for a move to Toulon. A try-scoring debut against Stade Francais and an impressive showing in a win over Toulouse later, and Henson seemed be to happy and back where he belonged — hitting the headlines for rugby-related reasons.
We now know that inside a few hours of the latter victory, he had put his career at both Toulon and in professional rugby in jeopardy. An after-match altercation with two team-mates — believed to be Toulon golden boy Jonny Wilkinson and Australian scrum-half Matt Henjak — has left him facing a showdown with the club’s powerbrokers next week.
Should he get the sack, it’s hard to imagine who will take a punt on him. And Wales boss Warren Gatland must decide whether the footballing ability Henson brings to the country’s midfield options outweighs the baggage that comes with him.
The same can be said for Andy Powell, who has this week learned that reputation counts for a lot when trouble brews.
The Wales number eight could be discarded by his club Wasps after being involved in a bar brawl along with team-mate Tim Payne, which left Powell needing 10 stitches to his head.
Wasps are reportedly upset that Powell had spoken out about the incident in a newspaper, and like Henson, he surely hasn’t been helped his colourful past — he was banned from driving for 15 months and kicked out of the Welsh Six Nations squad last year, after being arrested for drunkenly driving away a golf buggy down a motorway following a dramatic victory over Scotland.
Both cases highlight savage wastes of talent; conversely, former Wales great Phil Bennett this week held up Brian O’Driscoll as a prime example of a man who has made the most of his outrageous sporting gifts.
But before we get too high and mighty about that here in Ireland, we must look at the bigger picture, and a more disturbing overall trend.
Rugby has long liked to occupy a moral high ground both on and off the pitch, amid a curious culture of denial. Disgraceful eye-gouging acts are deemed to be “out of character” and off-field incidents are often reported sympathetically in comparison to other sports.
Some would argue the latter shows a sense of perspective absent in the hysteria that accompanies the tiniest indiscretions by players in other codes.
But with increased popularity comes increased responsibility. Rugby is bigger in these parts than it ever has been, yet Henson and Powell’s are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of bad behaviour by the sport’s protagonists in recent years.
Think Bloodgate, England’s summer tour in 2008, Munster’s Christmas party antics in Kilkenny last December, Danny Cipriani and Shaun Edwards. And more eye-gouging incidents than we’d care to remember.
One can only hope that Henson and Powell — whatever fate befalls them next — will serve as cautionary tales in a sport where the moral code is looking decidedly shaky.
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/31jma5_xZqU/post.aspx
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