O'Driscoll still harbours Henson grudge

The absence of one Wales star and the return of another provokes mixed feelings in Ireland skipper Brian O’Driscoll.

Wales’ preparations for their trip to Dublin have been hit by the loss of inspirational skipper Gareth Thomas for the rest of the RBS Six Nations Championship because of a damaged neck artery.

Thomas’ absence could not have come at a worse time given Welsh rugby is still reeling from the shock removal of Grand Slam-winning coach Mike Ruddock, who is thought to have been a victim of ‘player power’.

Replacing Thomas is an impossible task for Scott Johnson, Ruddock’s temporary successor, but Gavin Henson’s appearance on the bench for Sunday has offered some comfort.

Henson missed the November Tests with a groin strain and was then banned for elbowing Leicester prop Alex Moreno with the seven-week suspension running out in time for last Friday’s Ospreys encounter.

The Lions centre is a class act and should be welcomed by Wales, but he remains an unpopular figure following the publication of his controversial autobiography.

O’Driscoll is one player who came under fire in the book with Henson claiming the Ireland centre attempted to eye-gouge him in last season’s Six Nations, an accusation that has been vigorously denied.

The simmering feud between the two has turned the Lansdowne Road clash into a potential grudge match and O’Driscoll plainly has little time for Henson – in contrast to his opinion of Thomas.

“We have got a meeting later on and we are all going to sign a big A4 card for Gavin,” he said.

“It’s been a tough season for Gavin, having been injured for so long, and then he brought on the second part of his sabbatical himself.

“He’s back in the side, he’s obviously played well enough and is good enough to be in the Welsh 22, so if he comes on he will be treated exactly the same as any other Welsh player.”

Turning his attention to Thomas, O’Driscoll said: “Anyone being struck down the way he has been is not a nice thing.

“I know ‘Alfie’ reasonably well from the summer and met up with him at the Six Nations launch.

“I was looking forward to playing with him and socialising with him after the game because he’s a real character and you always like to meet up with those guys.”

O’Driscoll is unsure what effect recent events will have on Wales ahead of Sunday’s showdown but knows his side must wipe out the costly error count which led to their 43-31 defeat by France.

Ireland gifted Les Bleus five of their six tries but salvaged their pride by staging a remarkable fightback after trailing 43-3 going into the final quarter.

“The problems in Wales could go one of two ways really but I don’t really look into it in too much depth. All we need to concentrate on is our own performance and our own game,” he said.

“If you cut out handing those tries away to any side I think you are going to give them a good game, particularly with the way we know we played in the second half against France.

“If we can play somewhere along those lines we won’t be far away from the performance we want to put in, but it will have to be for 80 minutes.”