Henson has been playing amateur Welsh rugby for his boyhood club and has been targeted for some special treatment
Gavin Henson has revealed what it is really like being a former superstar now playing amateur rugby on pitches across Wales. Henson is back on the field with boyhood club Pencoed and has been the subject of some special treatment throughout his first season back.
The Wales icon, who was one of the most talented British and Irish players of his generation, now plays solely at fly-half in National League Division Two, with hundreds turning out to catch a glimpse of him in action at some matches.
Appearing on the Stick to Rugby podcast with former Wales team-mate Tom Shanklin and England great Lawrence Dallaglio, Henson said: “I missed the physicality, to be honest. I feel like a man again. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
“I play at 10, so I just pass. I do miss playing at 12, but I haven’t quite got the weight, I’m 95kg.
“It doesn’t matter so much (about the number of fans), it’s the opposition. It’s live! It’s full-on. Barbaric.
“There are no touch judges. Last season, I got hit off the ball – got the ball away, though! – he tackled me, then as I’m on the floor, he’s gone and gone whap! (punching motion) Straight in my face!
“So, that goes on! But he got sent off.”
And let’s not forget the heckling. Arguably Henson’s most famous moment of his professional career came in 2005 when he knocked over a monstrous kick to seal a stunning 11-9 win over England in Cardiff.
That moment was, of course, immortalised by the late, great Eddie Butler, who, addressing Henson’s liking for shaving his legs, declared: “Shave away, Gavin, shave away!”
If Henson thought he had escaped that from the terraces of south Wales rugby grounds two decades on, he was very much mistaken.
“Eddie Butler has killed me!” he laughed.
Shanklin jumped in with, “Shave away, Gavin, shave away!”
Henson added: “It’s all I’m getting, every time I kick – ‘Shave away, shave away!’ Every kick.”
The now 43-year-old’s new rugby life is somewhat different the glamour and fame of his professional career. He made his debut for Wales against Japan in 2001, but spent more than two years out of the side after that. And it was a flashpoint during Steve Hansen’s first meeting as Wales head coach which might have been the reason behind that.
Stick to Rugby co-host Scott Quinnell recalled a story back in 2001 when he told Henson to present something to the rest of the Welsh squad. But Henson, who was shy and struggled with public speaking, instead went home.
“I’ve always struggled in that environment. Whether it’s school or whatever, going up and speaking in front of people, it’s still hard now for me,” Henson said.
“Then, at 18, I’m in there with all the people I’ve seen on TV for years. It was my worst nightmare. Put me on the field and I’ll tell you what to do, but in that environment it’s my worst nightmare.
“It’s stuff about words, I struggle with words, they mean nothing to me when I see them up there. And you wanted me to go up there and explain one of those team-building things, to me, I just don’t get it.
“You wanted me to go and present it and I literally just run out of the room. Got in my car and never got back.
“Rupert Moon was ringing me, saying ‘Gav, you’ve got to come back!’
“I said, ‘No, I can’t.’ I was out of the squad then for two-and-a-half years. It was Steve Hansen’s first meeting. He came in with Scott Johnson. He’s probably heard about me, then he came in and saw me doing that and that was it for me.”
