Rugby story by Dominic Taylor, Sat, 24 Dec 2005 20:32:01 GMT


Wales and Lions centre Gavin Henson's chances of competing in the Six Nations in February received a rude setback after a disciplinary committee handed him a ban of 72 days for elbowing Leicester prop Alex Moreno and then trying to kick him in a Heineken Cup encounter last Sunday.

Moreno suffered a broken nose because of the challenge and Henson was hauled before the committee. Ospreys' head coach Mike Ruddock was disappointed at the extent of the ban and felt that the committee should have taken into account the fact that Moreno started the whole fracas. "It is disappointing news for Wales, for the Ospreys and for Gavin himself," Ruddock said yesterday.

"My first reaction was that it seemed a very long period of time to be out of the game given the circumstances." But Ruddock felt that the extent of the ban meant that players had to maintain good discipline and all levels of the game. "It is particularly unfortunate for Gavin, in that he was only just coming back from a long-term injury and we all wanted him to focus fully on regaining his match fitness and form by playing for the Ospreys," he said.

The 23-year-old Henson is all set to miss the match against England at Twickenham, where Wales begin their campaign. The matches against Scotland and Ireland also appear to be off for him. Ian Evans was also suspended for eight weeks after the committee found him guilty of stamping on scrum-half Harry Ellis in the same game.

However, it is not clear if the Ospreys' are planning on appealing the sentences, "We are very disappointed with both verdicts, and we will now consider our position as to whether or not to appeal the sanctions imposed," said Ospreys team manager Derwyn Jones.

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