'Gav' will see specialist says Gatland
Mon, 10 Nov 2008 10:43
After having to be withdrawn from the starting lineup on the eve of their big clash with the World Champions Springboks Wales coach Warren Gatland says centre Gavin Henson will see a specialist this week to try sort out his recurring Achilles problem.
Henson, who only returned to full action a few weeks ago, was forced out of the weekend’s clash late on Friday after failing to overcome the problem completely.
The Ospreys star’s place in the team was taken by Tom Shanklin, with Jamie Roberts shifting in from outside to inside centre.
Gatland’s men went on to lose the fixture 15-20 on Saturday but the Kiwi born coaches attention has quickly turned on to the recovery of his playmaker and then also on preparing his team for their clash with the Canadian side next weekend.
"Gavin is going to see a specialist this week and just try and get to the root of the problem with that Achilles," Gatland said to Scrum V.
"It's pretty painful for him. He played last Sunday, he didn't train on Monday - he didn't really train all week.
"We were prepared to give him all week (to prove his fitness) and Gav made the call on Friday: 'Look,' he said, 'it's too sore, it's not right,' so I said, 'no problems'.
"I think the thing with Gavin is that he's got to feel confident - he hasn't played a lot of rugby - he takes the field being 100 per cent fit.
"When he's like that we're going to get great performances out of him.
"He's been fantastic in our environment and we just hope he gets fit so he becomes available again."
Gatland has promised a number of changes for this weekend’s clash with Canada. The North American tourists went down 55-0 against Ireland at Thomond Park and, while it should be a straight forward win for ther Grand Slam champions, Gatland says every international game means something to his team.
"You're looking at front rows, you're looking at the two second rows, a couple of loose forwards, nine and 10..." Gatland said.
"The great thing at the moment is that guys are hungry to put the jersey on and not just the players we've got in the squad, there's players putting their hands up in the regions.
"That's what I'm excited about, is that players really want to get back into that Welsh squad and wear the jersey again."
Did Wales miss 'Gav'? Did you miss Gav? Or do you think Roberts and Shanklin are maybe the best shout either way? Let us know.
