THE LOSS of Jamie Roberts is far more relevant, and the latest Gavin Henson sideshow is a distraction which the troubled Cardiff Blues could have done without on the eve of their Heineken Cup quarter-final against the reigning champions at the Aviva Stadium next Saturday.
Invariably though, that has proved to be the case.
Coaches Gareth Baber and Justin Burnell were obliged to spend much of yesterday’s press conference defending the club’s decision to sack the troubled 30-year-old, a decision which has predictably provoked huge debate in Wales.
Henson’s former coach at the Ospreys Lyn Jones described the punishment for the players’ alcohol-fuelled misbehaviour on Sunday’s plane home following the Blues’s 31-3 defeat by Glasgow the day before, as “inexcusable”.
“It was inappropriate behaviour on a public airline and it is not an image the Cardiff Blues want to carry forward and we owed it to our sponsors and our supporters to make sure that wasn’t what was seen,” said Baber.
“If it was any other organisation, if I was working for Barclays Bank or something, it would be a done deal,” said Baber. “Just because they are rugby players doesn’t mean they get excused from this sort of behaviour.”
There is consternation in the Welsh media that some of the players were out drinking in Glasgow after their 31-3 defeat, a week before their season-defining quarter-final but, while confirming this was the case, Baber maintained that Henson took things to extreme. Nevertheless, the distinct impression remains that at least some of the Cardiff players felt Henson’s sacking was harsh.
“Like anything else, I think the players will initially have a viewpoint, but I think that viewpoint realistically lasted for an hour or so and then the total has been on Leinster,” said Burnell. “We met Monday morning, discussed it and then went out and trained on Monday afternoon, we trained all day today on a Tuesday and apart from yourselves (media) we haven’t discussed it again.”
But when asked specifically if the players considered Henson’s punishment to be harsh, Burnell said: “A decision was made by the club and we all stand by that. Whether it was harsh or not, a decision was made and we’ve all stood by it.”
“One incident shouldn’t overshadow something that has been put in place from last August,” implored Burnell. “Our focus then was to qualify for the latter stages of Europe. We saw that as a main target. We hit that one. It’s something we’ve worked on over the last nine months and one incident has perhaps in certain people’s eyes overshadowed what we are going to do out in the Aviva in front of 50,000 people.
“It’s disappointing,” added a frustrated Burnell. “The whole focus has gone away from the fact that we are the only Welsh team in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup. Perhaps that’s something we’ve got to remember.”
In truth, Henson remains more noted for his regular appearances on celebrity television than his rugby, ever since returning from his sabbatical with unproductive sorties at Saracens and Touloun. Since joining Cardiff in October, he has only started six games and has displayed real defensive deficiencies. At best he would only have figured on the bench against Leinster even with Roberts ruled out.
For the fourth time this season Roberts limped out of a game with a knee injury, during the defeat to Glasgow, and will now undergo surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament, thus sidelining him for six months. This means he will also miss Wales’s summer tour to Australia.
“First and foremost, I’m pretty devastated to be missing this weekend’s Heineken Cup quarter-final match against Leinster, in what is our biggest match of the season,” said a disappointed Roberts. “It’s a match I’ve been looking forward to for a long time but unfortunately my body hasn’t quite allowed me to be a part of such a huge occasion for us as a region.”
The Lions’s inside centre is likely to be replaced by Dafydd Hewitt, more in the Roberts mould, or Gavin Evans.
Rugby Fixtures
THURSDAY
Representative: Ireland under-18 clubs v France under-18 clubs, St Mary’s College RFC, 12pm.
Ireland under-19 v France under-19, St Mary’s College, 2pm.
FRIDAY
British and Irish Cup semi-final: Leinster A v Munster A, RDS, 6pm
SATURDAY
Heineken Cup quarter-finals: Edinburgh v Toulouse, Murrayfield, 3pm, N Owens (Wales) – Sky Sports 1. Leinster v Cardiff Blues, Aviva Stadium, 5.45pm, D Pearson (Eng) – Sky Sports 1.
FIRA under-18 European championships final Ireland v England, Ciudad Universitaria, Madrid, 1.45 (Irish Time).
SUNDAY
Heineken Cup, quarter-finals: Munster v Ulster, Thomond Park, 1.45, R Poite (France) – Sky Sports 2. Saracens v ASM Clermont Auvergne, Vicarage Road, 4.30, A Rolland (Ireland) – Sky Sports 2.
