Gavin Henson??

newmills

Does anyone here rate him?

He kicked one great penalty against England about 4 years ago and put in one good tackle in that game as well against a guy on his debut.
That to me seems to be it. He doesn't have blistering pace. He's doesn't seem to have a decent side step to beat his opposite number. He hasn't got great hands and he doesn't seem to tackle as hard as his team mates.
Have I got this wrong or have I missed something? Saw him play twice against Ireland and he was hopeless - actually Wales would have been safer with no-one in his position in those games!!

Stev_o

Probably the most over rated player in the world. I actually cringed when Shaun Edwards said he was the pillerstone of Wales defence and he was one of the best defenders in Europe......riighht considering the guy cant legally tackle.

bleg

newmills wrote: »

Does anyone here rate him?

He kicked one great penalty against England about 4 years ago and put in one good tackle in that game as well against a guy on his debut.
That to me seems to be it. He doesn't have blistering pace. He's doesn't seem to have a decent side step to beat his opposite number. He hasn't got great hands and he doesn't seem to tackle as hard as his team mates.
Have I got this wrong or have I missed something? Saw him play twice against Ireland and he was hopeless - actually Wales would have been safer with no-one in his position in those games!!

yup. you hit the nail on the head there.

louthandproud

bleg wrote: »

yup. you hit the nail on the head there.

No doubt the guy has has huge talent but probably his talent has been diminished by an even huger ego. Rugby as team sports go requires more than individual talent, more so than a lot of other team sports. This I think is where he falls down, perhaps a talent like his, in a similar way to Ronaldo would work better in an other code, but there is no hiding place for a selfish individual ego like his in Rugby at the highest level.

A shame really.

marco_polo

I think he had the potential skills and has shown it in flashes, but he has always been woefully lacking the required mentality and dedication be a top player.

It seems to me he got to the level of fairly decent, got way more fame than his achievements on the pitch merited, a trophy wife and never showed any desire to improve signifigantly as a player after that.

anonymous_joe

Probably has the talent to be the best 12 rugby's ever seen.

Defensively he was awesome.

His kicking is superlative.

Attacking wise, he's intelligent.

His fake tan and hair blinded fans and seemed to engender irrational hatred.

The guys a great 12 and would be an asset for any team. Other than maybe South Africa.

ironingbored

Whatever you say he still has two more 6 Nations medals that the greatest centre ever Brian O'Driscoll.

I think Cipriani is just as hyped as Henson if not more so.

tommmy1979

ironingbored wrote: »

I think Cipriani is just as hyped as Henson if not more so.

I agree, but with Cipriani the hype is justified.. he really is a class act.

redroar1942

Henson is a potentialy excellent player references to his debut been his only good game are misguided. Look at any Welsh game from last years 6N's and he was the linch pin in every game.

Unfortunately he is a mental midget. It seems to me that if he has one bad game suddenly he is injured i.e on the last lions tour and this years AI's.

Just doesn't have it upstairs and gives up on himself far too easily.

Hippo

I've never seen any consistent evidence of his 'greatness'. Truly overrated.

Sparky14

I had a big disagreement, with my brother after that Eng game, he thought he was the business, I said I'd never seen a player so overhyped on the back of a kick and 2 big tackles on an 13stone, 18yr old debutant.

He definitely has talent, but he takes a huge amount of risks, which means when they come off hes the best in the world, followed promptly to a shocking mistake. I always compared him to Michelak in that way. I think thats what divides ppl, those who like slick flashy rugby are gonna love him, traditionalists will hate his reckless play.

LOL at ppl saying he had potential to be the best 12 in the world, never shown near enough consistently to suggest he could be that good.

jam_on_toast

When playing with confidence, he is a terrific player. Good hands, good boot, good defense and composed.

When his head is in the clouds, he's rubbish.

His career is 50/50 so far. Whenever he has played well, so has Wales. If in form he may start for the Lions, and deservedly so.

GreeBo

But he cant tackle! You cannot play in the centre of the pitch if you cant tackle! (hitting someone half heartedly with your shoulder is NOT a tackle btw)

jam_on_toast

GreeBo wrote: »

But he cant tackle! You cannot play in the centre of the pitch if you cant tackle! (hitting someone half heartedly with your shoulder is NOT a tackle btw)

its not his best point, but he is a good centre when playing well, a good player to have outside a 10 to relieve pressure.

shabouwcaw

. Look at any Welsh game from last years 6N's and he was the linch pin in every game.

agreed. my friends and i had a running joke that every try wales scored in the 6 nations was made by either gavin henson or shane williams.

everytime they scored we would shout "gavin henson or shane williams?" in a welsh accent..

newmills

Point here is "what are his magical skills"? You know O'driscoll has a good sidestep and hits rucks with the ferocity of an old school flanker. Nonu is a battering ram and will run through you. What is henson good at? Watched numerous games and cannot remember any real sparks of individual brilliance from him that won or contributed to the winning of the game.

shabouwcaw

sorry to be so Machiavellian, but he gets the results.

ends justify the means and all that. not about being flashy or amazing, if you set up and score trys. after all thats what rugby is about.

Sandwich

shabouwcaw wrote: »

sorry to be so Machiavellian, but he gets the results.

He does ???

OP had it about right for me. Although even before that England game, I remember him being talked up a lot in Wales as the second coming, so they wanted to believe the meagre evidence they saw that day. Faith before reason sometimes for their own team from the Welsh.

BOD is (or was at least) a far better player than anything we have seen GH do or even suggest he is capable of. And Wales have had plenty of far superior players even during the last few years that Henson has been about, M Williams, Hook, S Jones, S Williams.....

shabouwcaw

he has yet to lose a 6 nations game he has started in.

had the 5th highest number of ball carries in the last 6 nations. admittedly one of the highest error and missed tackles aswell, but BoD featured in both those lists too.

i dont love the chap, but he gets an unfair amount of slagging for being an awful player. hes nothing amazing, but its more to do with him being an orange attentions seeker than his actual playing ability. he plays well for wales and alright for the ospreys.

himself and shane williams work well together.

/thread

Aidric

It's unfair to prejudice him for being an oompah lumpah.
I think he's very flaky mentally. He isn't the best in the tackle but he's a good runner and has a solid pair of hands. On his day he can be a very effective center but those days are all too rare.

anonymous_joe

Aidric wrote: »

It's unfair to prejudice him for being an oompah lumpah.
I think he's very flaky mentally. He isn't the best in the tackle but he's a good runner and has a solid pair of hands. On his day he can be a very effective center but those days are all too rare.

Have to disagree there.

I think he's a superb defender and great at organising a defense. As for flaky, he might be flaky off the pitch, I don't agree that he is on it.

toomevara

anonymous_joe wrote: »

Have to disagree there.

I think he's a superb defender and great at organising a defense. As for flaky, he might be flaky off the pitch, I don't agree that he is on it.

+1. Unfortunately Henson's off-field doings have become conflated with what he does on the pitch. Yep, he's a fop and a dandy (show me a welsh 3/4 who isn't) but he's a damn fine player by anyone's lights...Shows signs of finally copping himself on a bit, and may one day actually live up to all that potential...

Webbs

Wales conceded the fewest tries in 6N history last year and their backs defence organiser on the pitch was Henson, as another poster pointed out he has yet to lose a 6N game when he plays in the centre (with Shanklin). If he is a poor defender then it should be easy to point out the large number of line breaks that occur at the 12 channel for Wales? People are biased due to the media hype that goes with him.
In m y opinion he is the best 12 in the 'home nations', his defence as I said stands up to scrutiny from the stats, as to his pace he is one of those players that glides rather than runs with legs a pumping (look at his try against Worcester, leaves Chris Latham for dead with a shimmy and has pace to easily make the tryline).
While I may think the guy can be an ass at times and is a bit too easily injured. I for one would want a fit Henson playing for rather than against me!

gebbel

Does he not spend too much time in Church? He's worn out!

anonymous_joe

gebbel wrote: »

Does he not spend too much time in Church? He's worn out!

Ya see that's the problem.

Henson's a celebrity, and people don't like him because of that. Yes he did the whole fake tan, pretty boy silver tipped hair. Fine. Get over it. :pac:

He's the best 12 in the Northern Hemisphere.

TarfHead

newmills wrote: »

Point here is "what are his magical skills"? You know O'driscoll has a good sidestep and hits rucks with the ferocity of an old school flanker. Nonu is a battering ram and will run through you. What is henson good at? Watched numerous games and cannot remember any real sparks of individual brilliance from him that won or contributed to the winning of the game.

I agree.

The match against England with 'that' tackle on Tait and 'that' kick sum up his career to date. The stats that other poster cite can mislead. It is possible to crab across field for 20 metres, gain 2 metres and then cough up the ball in the tackle so, saying that was a 20 metre carry, is meaningless in the context of contribution to the team.

And he is too injury prone.

anonymous_joe

TarfHead wrote: »

I agree.

The match against England with 'that' tackle on Tait and 'that' kick sum up his career to date. The stats that other poster cite can mislead. It is possible to crab across field for 20 metres, gain 2 metres and then cough up the ball in the tackle so, saying that was a 20 metre carry, is meaningless in the context of contribution to the team.

And he is too injury prone.

Eh...?

He's a defensive lynchpin of the Welsh side. He's good kicking from hand. He's also a relatively powerful runner. He might not have the flair of O'Driscoll or the power of Nonu, but then he's probably a better defender than Nonu.

bamboozle

much as i dont like the guy, isnt there some mad fact like wales have never lost a 6 nations game that he's started...