Though he has not played since March 2009, Gavin Henson has stated his desire to return to international rugby. Having admitted that the World Cup, taking place in New Zealand in a year's time is "the one thing not on my CV," the centre has declared himself ready to break his self-imposed exile and return to the sport.
"I've never been to the Rugby World Cup, which is coming up in 2011 and I am thinking about training for that," he said. "If I leave it any longer I'll probably too old.
The 28 year-old was catapulted into the sport's spotlight following all-round displays throughout Wales' Grand-Slam Six Nations campaigns in 2005 and 2008 but has been on unpaid leave from his club the Neath-Swansea Ospreys now for over 18 months.
Whilst he was playing, the spiky-haired, silver-booted Bridgend man was never far from the limelight, and even whilst out of the game he has been followed by controversy. In June of this year, Henson split up with his fiancé, singer Charlotte Church, and accredits his renewed enthusiasm for rugby to his appearance on ITV's new reality show 71 Degrees North, set in the bitter cold of northern Norway. Though they are estranged, the British Lion admitted that Church's influence was pivotal in his decision to take up ITV's offer.
"She was the one who pushed me to do it. I was in the worst shape I'd ever been in but thanks to my athlectic background I got stronger every day."
Having attracted the interest of various Aviva Premiership sides despite having a further year to run on his contract at the Liberty Stadium, it seems as though the rugby world is watching Henson's progress with interest.
"This is probably the first step on the ladder to getting my career back. Being in a team environment (during the show) and the competition element just made me realise what I was missing. I've taken this time out to get my hunger back."
Encouragingly for Henson, national coach Warren Gatland resisted any cynical feeling towards this new-found motivation. "If it's not until the new year it's potentially going to be to late," explained the former All Black. "I haven't spoken spoken to Gavin but it would be great to see him back on the rugby field. He's a talented player."
