RUGBY NEWS:GAVIN HENSON said he felt cursed and questioned his future in rugby after his hopes of touring South Africa with the Lions this year were left in tatters when he damaged ankle ligaments at the weekend.
The Wales centre, who was embroiled in controversy on the last Lions tour to New Zealand in 2005, was injured playing for Ospreys against Gloucester on Saturday and his club physio said it was unlikely he would be able to play again until May.
“It is a complete nightmare again, I can’t believe my luck,” Henson said. “I’m pretty down and depressed about it at the moment, maybe I’m cursed.
“The injury will probably rule me out of the Lions tour, to be honest. It’ll be a pretty brave decision to take me now as I’m probably a bit of a liability with the way I am with my injuries. This season is probably a miss now.”
Asked about whether he had a future in the game, he said: “Those thoughts run through my head. When I get knocked out with an injury, it is soul-destroying. Is it worth it?
“It is pretty tough off the field. Rugby has gone so professional you start to lose the enjoyment side of it.”
The Lions squad is due to be named on April 21st. They will play 10 matches, including three Tests against the world champion Springboks, from May 30th to July 4th.
“We can confirm that Gavin has suffered damage to the ligaments on both the lateral and medial sides of his right ankle,” Chris Towers, the Ospreys physio, said. “Although the injury is not so severe that he will require surgery, he will require a spell of at least two weeks in a walking cast before he can start to gradually get back to normal activity.
“At this stage, in light of the nature and extent of the ligament damage, we are predicting a four- to six-week spell on the sidelines before Gavin will be ready for action again.”
Henson made one Test appearance on the Lions tour of New Zealand four years ago, missing out on the first Test when coach Clive Woodward did not select him and the third through injury.
He later apologised for comments he made about some of his team-mates in a book.
Meanwhile, Connacht have announced a 22-man squad ahead of their Magners League clash with the Newport Gwent Dragons at the Sportsground on Friday (kick off: 6.30pm).
Niva Ta’auso has recovered from injury to be named in the squad for the first time since sustaining a hamstring injury against the Ospreys in February and scrumhalf Frank Murphy is also back from injury having missed last week’s game against Edinburgh with a calf injury.
CONNACHT (squad v Dragons):Bibo, Browne, Carr, Cronin, Duffy, Dunne, Farley, Flavin, Keatley, Loughney, Matthews, McGovern, Muldoon, Murphy, Nathan, O'Connor, Ofisa, O'Loughlin, Rigney, Swift, Ta'auso, Wilkinson.
OSPREYS (v Ulster, Ravenhill, tomorrow, 7.35pm):Owen; Bishop, Spratt, Bishop, Vaughton; Hook, Phillips; James , Bennett, Griffiths, Wyn Jones, Lloyd, Smith, Tandy, Tiatia. Replacements: Hibbard, Bevington, Levi, Holah, Nutbrown, Biggar, Parker.
