News In Brief
Henson ready to return
Scrum.com
March 13, 2010
The Ospreys' Gavin Henson receives treatment after suffering an injury, Gloucester v Ospreys, Anglo-Welsh Cup Semi-Final, Ricoh Arena, Coventry, England, March 28, 2009
Gavin Henson has been out of action for just under a year © Getty Images
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  • Gavin Henson's partner, Charlotte Church, has claimed that the Ospreys ace is ready to resume his playing career.

    Henson has not been seen on a rugby field since injuring his ankle in the Ospreys' EDF Energy Cup semi-final defeat by Gloucester a year ago. It was initially speculated that the former Wales international, frustrated at seeing his career repeatedly interrupted by injury, was ready to retire from the game. It was also rumoured late last year that the versatile centre, who is currently on unpaid leave, was also considering a cross-code switch to rugby league outfit, the Crusaders.

    Henson has remained tight-lipped on all of the speculation but during an appearance on Jonathan Ross' BBC chat show on Friday night, the former British & Irish Lion's partner Charlotte revealed: "He'll start training again soon; he's exactly the same weight as when he finished."

  • Riki Flutey has shrugged off speculation linking him with a switch to Munster, insisting that he will see out the remaining year of his contract with Brive. The England centre is being widely tipped to move to Ireland in the summer but he insists that he has not been agitating for an early release and is quite content in France.

    "The whole thing about what I do next year is all speculation," Flutey told The Guardian. "It's not bothering me at all. Simon Gillham (Brive's chief executive) has told me I'm contracted for another year, simple as that. I'm focused on fulfilling my contract. If that's what he says I should do, that's it. It's not playing on my mind."

  • The New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) is keen to move the All Blacks' scheduled clash with England on December 4 to the start of its tour of Great Britain and Ireland.

    As things currently stand, the Kiwis are set to kick off their end-of-season programme with a game in Asia on October 30 before travelling to Europe to take on Scotland at Murrayfield on November 13. The All Blacks will then take on Ireland in Dublin the following weekend before crossing the Irish Sea once more to tackle Wales in Cardiff on November 28.

    Graham Henry's men are then penciled in for a tour-ending clash with England seven days later but the hope now is that that fixture can be brought forward to the weekend of November 6. "We want our guys back (before the end of November) because we think we stayed a week too long in the UK last year," NZRU chief executive Steve Tew said. "The Barbarians game (on December 5) was a stretch."

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