Gavin Henson

Gavin Lloyd Henson (born 1 February 1982) is a Welsh former professional rugby union player, who played as a fly-half, fullback and inside centre.

Between 2000 and 2019 he played for Llanelli, Swansea RFC, the Ospreys, Saracens, Toulon, Cardiff Blues, London Welsh, Bath, Bristol and the Dragons.

He won 33 caps for Wales national team and one for the British & Irish Lions.

Henson's one and only appearance for Llanelli RFC was against the then Border Reivers at Greenyards in May 2000.

The Rievers won the match 51–23.

Henson played at 10 and scored 5 points (1 conversion & 1 penalty).

Born in Pencoed, Henson played rugby for his school, Brynteg Comprehensive, in Bridgend, Wales.

Despite his Bridgend origins, he joined Swansea RFC at the age of 18.

He was presented with the International Rugby Board's Young Player of the Year award in 2001.

During this time, he had started paving the way to his international career by signing for the Wales A team.

He made his international debut for Wales during June 2001 in a Test against Japan, coming off the bench.

He then started his next match, at fly-half in a game against Romania on 19 September 2001.

In November of that year, he played for Wales A against Uruguay, scoring his first try in an international.

In 2003, regional rugby was launched in Wales, and Henson played for the Ospreys.

He made his debut for the Ospreys as a substitute on 9 September 2003 in a match against Ulster, scoring two tries and kicking both a penalty and conversion to score 15 points.

He was moved to fly-half for the subsequent match against the Newport-Gwent Dragons, scoring 14 points from kicks.

Henson returned to the international field for Wales in 2003.

He played twice, and was on the bench for two other Tests.

He was capped against both the All Blacks and Romania.

Henson came to wider notice in 2004 with a series of performances in Wales' autumn internationals against New Zealand and South Africa.

Henson became a firm part of the Welsh starting line-up, and after playing at fullback in the second Test against Argentina and the first against South Africa, he played in the centres for the remainder of the season.

He was part of a Wales team which won Grand Slams in the Six Nations Championship in 2005 and 2008.

He played for the British & Irish Lions in their 2005 tour to New Zealand.

He remained on the team for the 2005 Six Nations Championship.

In Wales' opening fixture in February, at home to England, Henson gave an effective performance; making two tackles on Mathew Tait (earning Tait the nickname 'Henson's Handbag') and landing the match-winning points with a 48 m penalty kick and being named man of the match.

Back in his club side, Henson was part of a team which took the Celtic League cup: in the deciding match against Edinburgh on 26 March 2005, he scored 24 of his side's 29 points.

In the northern hemisphere summer of the same year, Henson was named in the Lions squad for the tour of New Zealand.

He was "devastated not to be playing" in the first Test.

When he was selected for the second test, he was injured and could not play in the final test.

A groin injury delayed his return to club rugby in the autumn of the year.

Within months of his Ospreys return, Henson was cited for kicking and elbowing Leicester prop Alex Moreno in a game against Leicester on 19 December 2005.

He was found not guilty of the kicking offence, but guilty of the elbowing.

He was initially suspended for ten weeks and two days: this period was reduced on appeal to seven weeks.

Following this suspension and a single game at club level, he returned to international rugby against Ireland.

In October 2005, Henson's My Grand Slam Year was published.

Comments about the Lions tour and remarks about other players ensured rapid publicity and Henson had to apologise to his teammates.

He was not selected in the Wales squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup by then coach Gareth Jenkins, after he failed to prove his fitness after recovering from an Achilles tendon injury.

Henson was recalled to the Welsh Squad by caretaker coach Nigel Davies, to play against South Africa shortly after the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

Since 2010, Henson has participated in several reality television series: 71 Degrees North, Strictly Come Dancing, The Bachelor and Celebrity Hunted.

In 2021 he began playing rugby league for West Wales Raiders in League 1.