Wales 19 England 9:GAVIN HENSON has missed out on another World Cup. The 29-year old centre, who watched the 2003 and 2007 tournaments from home, suffered a dislocation in his right wrist 30 minutes into Saturday's victory over England in Cardiff. He will be out for between six and eight weeks.
Henson was making only his fifth start since returning to rugby last December, after a 19-month break. He admitted in the week before the game that the major reason he had ended his sabbatical was an ambition to play in the World Cup, which begins in New Zealand on September 9th. He was out of the Wales squad in 2003 and was dropped from it four years later.
Henson made an impact against England, sparking an attack, winning a turnover and making a tackle on his opposite number, Shontayne Hape. Henson then injured himself tackling the England captain, Mike Tindall. He was taken to hospital for an x-ray. Henson feared the worst after hearing a crack, but Wales hoped that it might have been the sound of a capsule popping. It turned out to be a fracture in his wrist and he will not be able to play again until the final weekend of the group stage at the earliest.
Yesterday, instead of preparing for Wales’s final warm-up, against Argentina on Saturday, Henson was having surgery. He will stay with the squad, not least because he does not have a club, having been released by Toulon in May. Wales’s coach, Warren Gatland will hope to call on Henson in the event of injury, if Wales reach the World Cup knock-out stage.
“Gavin has been given a ‘return to play’ time of six to eight weeks which, while ruling him out of selection for the initial World Cup squad, could see him available to the coaches while we are still in the pool stages,” said Wales medical manager, Prav Mathema.
Some dress rehearsals offer welcome reassurance, others make you want to run screaming from the building. For Wales, Saturday’s warm-up game was a blessed relief, showcasing the fitness and warrior spirit they will need in New Zealand. For England it was a horror show, pure and simple. This was the bad old England, zombies in white sleep-walking towards World Cup oblivion.
There is no question that the return of Chris Ashton and Ben Youngs will help but England’s best XV looks less and less clear-cut. Jonny Wilkinson, Manu Tuilagi and Riki Flutey could all play in Dublin in two weeks time but here, collectively, Wales looked fitter. They took the second-half 13-3, buoyed by James Hook’s 58th-minute try. England badly need to deliver in Dublin.
WALES: J Hook; G North, J Roberts, G Henson, S Williams; R Priestland, M Phillips; P James, A Burns, C Mitchell, L Charteris, A-W Jones, D Lydiate, S Warburton, T Faletau. Replacements: S Williams for Henson (32 mins), A Brew for Priestland (h-t), G Bevington for James (67 mins), H Bennett for Burns (53 mins), G Turnbull for A Jones (60 mins).
ENGLAND: B Foden; M Banahan, M Tindall, S Hape, M Cueto; T Flood, R Wigglesworth; A Corbisiero, S Thompson, D Cole, L Deacon, C Lawes, T Wood, H Fourie, N Easter. Replacements: D Armitage for Tindall (59 mins), C Hodgson for Flood (68 mins), D Care for Wigglesworth (30 mins), M Stevens for Corbisiero (59 mins), L Mears for Thompson (59 mins), T Palmer for Deacon (68 mins), J Haskell for Fourie (50 mins).
Referee: A Rolland (Ireland).
