Welsh fitness guru defends Henson axing
Henson was “devastated” after being told last Monday he had run out of time to prove his fitness following an Achilles injury, even though the World Cup was still five weeks away.
Questions were immediately raised as to why Henson had been jettisoned so early when fly-half Stephen Jones was being given every chance to prove he could shake a groin injury in time for the tournament.
On top of that, lock Ian Evans is set to be named in Jenkins’ 30-man World Cup squad this Friday despite not having played in eight months after undergoing a shoulder reconstruction.
Henson has only started one Test for Wales since the 2005 Grand Slam and critics argued he should have been given the chance to prove himself against England last Saturday.
But Wales fitness coach Bennett, armed with a laptop computer packed with Henson’s fitness stats, revealed the full story behind the controversial decision.
“Gavin is a very talented individual, both as a rugby player and physically, but he has spent a large number of weeks this year not being able to do the work we wanted him to do because of his Achilles tendon,” Bennett said.
“He is so far behind where we want him to be. If we gave him enough training load to get him where we want him to be, he would be in a downward (injury) spiral and never come out,” he said.
“You can’t fit six weeks of training into three weeks or Gavin would have more injuries and we would put him further back again,” said Bennett.
“You then take the option we have done, or you tell Gavin he will go to the World Cup unfit, which is not fair on Gavin and it’s not fair on the other players.”
Bennett said a lack of base training set Henson apart from Jones and Evans. He said Evans was “physically ahead of where he has ever been” while Jones “was running personal bests”.
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