Scott Johnson, the new acting national coach, will be an interested onlooker in Swansea tonight as Gavin Henson steps back into the limelight knowing he may be a massive beneficiary of the ructions that have rocked Welsh rugby this week.

The centre makes his second comeback of the season when he appears at fullback for the Ospreys against the Borders at the Liberty Stadium after a 51-day suspension. Next week he could be back in the red of Wales, nearly a year after his last appearance for his country.

Henson has kept an unusually low profile this week, benefiting from the media attention that has been lavished on the dismissal of the Wales coach Mike Ruddock. But the attention will soon be focused on the 24-year-old.

He played a part in Ruddock's downfall, albeit innocently, when the journalist who ghosted his autobiography turned up at a media conference. This sparked a protest by the Welsh players, who refused to give any interviews until he left, despite being urged to talk by Ruddock.

That episode showed how Ruddock's authority within the squad had been eroded, and though his departure, together with the patent distrust in which the players still hold Henson, would appear to indicate the centre has no chance of being recalled to the squad until the summer at the earliest, Johnson has not ruled out including him in the 22 for the international against Ireland in Dublin on Sunday week.

"Gavin is a quality player," said Johnson. "He will be judged on his form now that he is available to us again and he will be treated fairly. If he merits inclusion, he will be selected."

Henson, who has made only three appearances this season, having had an operation on his groin six weeks after the end of the Lions tour to New Zealand, said he was concentrating on the Ospreys, not Wales, and did not feel there was any lingering fallout from his book.

"I do not think there is a problem with that," he said. "I went in to see the Wales squad and made the apologies I needed to last November. I know all the Ospreys players are fine with me."

Henson's book offended a number of his Wales colleagues, most notably the captain Gareth Thomas, who felt Henson had committed a serious breach of trust, and in his second game back for the Ospreys in December he was cited for elbowing the Leicester prop Alex Moreno and breaking his nose during the Heineken European Cup match at the Liberty Stadium. He was banned for 72 days, reduced to 51 on appeal. ... Guardian Service