It turns out two Lions can share the same patch, after all.
This St David’s Day in the Welsh village of St Brides Major, The Fox is filling up. The pub reopened only a short time ago, its new landlord is Gavin Henson. As locals gather for a pint and a patter, in walks Scott Gibbs.
Like the new owner, he is sporting a black leather jacket. And like Henson, Gibbs is immortalised in these parts thanks to one display against the old enemy. At Wembley in 1999, his late try denied England a Grand Slam.
Gavin Henson has come along way since his life-changing performance against England
The 38-year-old is the new landlord at The Fox pub in the Welsh village of St Brides Major
The next time Wales beat their rivals, Henson took centre stage. In 2005, all shaved legs and spray tan, the talented playmaker’s late penalty sparked a new dawn in Welsh rugby. That day in Cardiff, Henson carried England teenager Mathew Tait along for the ride, too.
Fifteen years on, as England and Wales prepare to meet once more, Henson is back home. He still wears No 12. But these days, the colourful 38-year-old is a midfielder for Super Fox United – juggling Sunday league football with a new business.
This area has been battered by floods but today – through sunshine, showers and hail – Super Fox United and Llangeinor brave the punishing slope and treadmill winds. Only one familiar face opts for tights. As sheep graze next door, the football is similarly agricultural.
‘I can’t believe we threw it away,’ Henson reflects, having swept the changing room after the 3-3 draw. Here Super Fox are denied by a late penalty. Back in 2005, the silver boot was on the other foot. Wales’ 11-9 victory that day laid the foundations for a first Welsh Grand Slam since 1978 – and a period of unprecedented success in their recent history.
He still wears No 12 but these days he is a midfielder for Sunday league side Super Fox United
For Henson, too, it proved life-changing. His eye-catching performances and head-turning looks catapulted him into the unfamiliar territory of rugby superstardom. Soon his ‘Welsh Posh and Becks’ relationship with Charlotte Church dominated the front and back pages.
‘That’s probably the best game of rugby I’ve ever played,’ he reflects. ‘It feels about 30 years ago! A lot has happened since.’ Henson has never watched the game back. But he needs no reminding that at 23, on his first Six Nations start, he produced three moments forever etched into rugby folklore.
Before that, though, came the grooming. Ahead of kick-off, as Wales gathered for a huddle, Henson was found fixing his hair in the loos. ‘I always have to see that I’m looking good and then I know it’s going to be a great day,’ Henson says.
Always the showman, Henson claims to play ‘a little bit like David Beckham’
It worked. Four minutes from time, his 44-metre penalty won the game. Earlier, he produced two rib-shuddering tackles. Tait, 18 and on debut, was on the receiving end of both. The first saw him picked up and speared into the turf. ‘Welcome to international rugby!’ a Bridgend taxi driver says, recalling Brian Moore’s iconic line.
Then, six minutes after half-time, Tait dummied and stepped inside. Henson read it, turned him horizontal and carried him under one arm. ‘At 23, I didn’t feel like a youngster anymore and there was talk about (Tait) a few days before,’ Henson remembers.
‘We only had footage from his college days… so I watched that and I just saw him step for his college. I thought: ‘Oh right, okay, I think I’ve got you.’ Obviously I was quite a big name as a youngster coming through in Welsh rugby, rated well and that was my first Six Nations game. Then there was chat about this kid opposite me that was the next big thing. So obviously that stuck in my head.’ Tait was dropped for the following game.
The former Wales star sweeps the changing room after the 3-3 draw against Llangeinor
‘I’ve never spoken to him about it,’ Henson admits. ‘I played against him recently and he left a bit behind!’ Henson smirks. Within two-and-a-half years, however, Tait came within inches of a stunning try in the 2007 World Cup final. Henson, meanwhile, won two Grand Slams and represented the Lions in 2005. But his World Cup dream was unfulfilled. That is in part because he was blown off-course.
‘It was crazy,’ he remembers. ‘It literally took off overnight.’
Before leaving the Dragons last year, Henson played for 10 clubs. At 38, he still fancies a runout for boyhood club Pencoed or even a taste of rugby league.
These days, Henson insists he is a different person with new wife Katie Wilson Mould
‘I will be remembered as someone who didn’t reach his potential,’ he laughs. ‘That’s what everyone says. Which is probably true. I see youngsters coming through the rugby environment in the last five or six years and people are saying: ‘Wow this player is special.’ And I will be like: ‘Mmmmm, well he’s all right, I think.’ But then I think back, ‘Well I was good. If you think that was special, then I must have been really good’. But I didn’t fulfil it really, for one reason or another.’ Injuries certainly played their part.
Henson’s body broke down – his infamous shaving habits originated from a broken leg rather than vanity. But indiscipline cost him, too.
He left Toulon after an alleged bust-up with team-mates. He was sacked by Cardiff Blues over drunken antics on a plane. During his time at Bath, he was punched by a team-mate. In 2009, Henson stepped away from rugby for more than a year.
The talented playmaker’s late penalty in 2005 sparked a new dawn in Welsh rugby
‘I just needed time out of the game,’ he says. ‘I was living on fresh air so I needed money.’ He moved into reality TV, appearing on 71 Degrees North, Strictly Come Dancing and The Bachelor. ‘They were great experiences, I’m so glad I had those,’ Henson says.
Any regrets? ‘I don’t know. I did have fun. I probably wasn’t professional enough because I liked to have a drink… I was a young, single guy most of that time and I wanted to go out and meet girls.’ Rarely, though, with team-mates. ‘I got asked earlier, who’s your best mate in rugby? I never had one because my mates are my school mates… I’ve always kept them and that’s the team I’m playing with now.’
These days, Henson insists he is a different person. His beard is greying, his life now more mellow alongside new wife Katie Wilson Mould – with whom he owns The Fox. But neither time nor a change of sport can change everything. As during his rugby days, he still bathes before every football match. And then there is the target on his back. Henson put himself in the firing line during his professional career and even now, despite living here since the age of two, his reputation precedes him.
England’s Mathew Tait was on the receiving end of a monster tackle from Henson in Cardiff
‘Everyone has been leaving their boot in,’ says the 38-year-old, who, perhaps predictably, claims to play ‘a little bit like David Beckham’. ‘What I don’t understand, all they want to do is nutmeg me!’ Henson always pined to play football. Owning a pub? Not so much.
But with The Fox ‘dying a death’, he bowed to peer pressure and took on the job. ‘It coincided well with me finishing rugby – I didn’t have that down time.’ He puts on a sad voice. ‘Oh, what am I going to do with my life?’ Right now, Henson says he just wants to disappear.
Perhaps that’s why he went on the run on Celebrity Hunted last year. But who knows what lies ahead? After all, everything was turned upside down that day in 2005. Not just Tait.