I am utterly delighted! It's long been rumoured he was not happy at the O's and theres been a lot of talk amongst the rugby crowd at the way his injury was <ahem> "managed" which resulted in him asking for a time out, it was pretty much an open secret that Gav would not be comfortable going back there - naturally theres been alllllllll kinds of suggestions put forward as to why and the papers have all had a field day reporting each new speculation as dramatically as possible.
Meanwhile Gav hasn't played for 18 months ..... mind you watching him on 71 Degrees North his superb fitness levels and competative nature has been very clearly shown, now lets hope he still has that same edge and desire to win back on the rugby field.
Now we wait and keep our fingers crossed - I'm firmly in the "Wales can't do without him" camp and I honestly think that he will show the naysayers and skeptics that he really IS something very very special and the kind of player that only comes along once in a blue moon.
I'll even support an English team *spit* for once (so long as they aren't playing us) and as soon as the bookies list the odds I shall have a fiver on Gavin being back in the Welsh side for the 6 Nations.
I joined the Rugby club team in college way back in 1977 in Buffalo, NY. One practice in November it started snowing and didn't stop until April. So much for learning/playing rugby. 5 feet of snow in less than 48 hours kinda keeps you off the practice field
ETA
This was after I got my head handed to me trying out for the Univ of Buffalo football (American) team.
But of course, RB is only interested in him for his his rugby skills...
Actually you are right Gob, that is my primary interest in Gav, yeah he's a nice looking bloke, but he's a bit young for me and I must be getting older as what I actually wanna do is give him a cwtch, sit him down and tell him not to take everything to heart concentrate on the rugby and his kids and everything will come right
These days I can admire and appreciate good looks and a nice bod but the younger guys remind me too much of my son Would I kick Gav out of my bed? probably not lol but we'd probably be talking about him winning us the world cup
On the other hand, Joe Flanigan (43), Michael Weatherly (42), Nathan Fillion (39) & Chris O'Donnell (40) would have a heck of a hard time making it out of my bedroom alive
Gavin Henson landed his best score yet on Strictly Come Dancing tonight - after snogging a shocked Bruno Tonioli before launching into his quickstep.
The rugby player kissed the judge full on the lips before beginning his routine with partner Katya Virshilas - and got his first ever standing ovation from the audience at the end.
Dancing to Cheap Trick's 1977 hit I Want You To Want Me, it also earned the Saracens star 33 points and fourth place.
Craig Revel Horwood gushed: 'Finally, some personality on the dancefloor! I have to say a quantum leap forward...a monumental breakthrough, darling.'
Yeah we watched that "live" I thought it was a brilliant way to show his wicked sense of humour he's gonna pay for that in training cos the sarrie boys will take the piss big time. On that note from the short clip we saw of him in the dressing room after training seems he's fitting in really well and looks really happy there, new slogan for the sarries fans is "the futures bright ... the flyhalfs orange"
Speaking of Alfie - I actually made an official complaint to the BBC about an Irish commentator, we were watching Ulster vs Glasgow Warriors on BBC Ireland recently there was the usual prematch stuff being talked about over shots from inside the Ulster dressing room, on the table in the background was a whole load of oranges etc and the bloke says something about that being the only kind of fruit that should be in a rugby changing room, we were recording the game so I went back and checked and he'd said it totally out of context to anything the other commentator was saying, it was clearly a reference to Alfie, and I found it completely inappropriate. Normally I'd have tutted and let it pass but I was really rather shocked as it wasn't long after the IRB had fined a club for homophobic comments shouted at Alfie during a game and here was the BBC allowing something like that to go out without comment - now granted they couldn't have censored it as it was a live broadcast but once it had been said they should have said/done something, even if only by trying to cover it with some bs explanation. So for once I decided to do something and made a formal complaint, not really expecting to get a response. However to my complete surprise I got this back about 2 weeks later.
I'm replying to your recent complaint about a comment made during our live television coverage of the Ulster v Glasgow Warriors rugby fixture on 01.10.10.
I have looked at a recording of this programme and can confirm that an inappropriate comment was made by a contributor who'd been invited to provide additional match commentary and analysis. His remarks were ill-considered and we regret any offence which may have been caused. The individual involved has been advised of our concerns and the expectations/requirements associated with the BBC's Editorial Guidelines. We will also ensure that other contributors to our local sports programmes are reminded of their responsibilities in this area - including the need for proper care in the use of language and the avoidance of stereotypes.
I hope this is useful and am grateful to you for bringing this matter to my attention.
Sean wrote:Funny thing is, my first thought on reading that was that his comment was regarding Ulster/Oranges...
Mind you I don't follow Rugby so have no idea who 'Alfie' is...
Gareth Thomas (born 25 July 1974 in Sarn near Bridgend), known as Alfie, is a Welsh professional rugby footballer who plays rugby league for the Crusaders in Europe's Super League. He previously played rugby union for the Cardiff Blues and Wales in a number of positions including fullback, wing and centre. On 26 May 2007, he surpassed Gareth Llewellyn as the most-capped Wales player with his 93rd appearance. A prolific try scorer at international level, Thomas is listed ninth in the world on the all-time Test try scoring list. During the 2007 Rugby World Cup, Thomas scored a try in what was his final game for Wales, and in the process created sporting history when he become the first Welshman to win 100 international caps in rugby union. On 6th October 2010 Thomas became a dual code international when he represented the Wales rugby league team against Italy at the Wrexham Racecourse Ground.
According to Sports Illustrated, Thomas is notable as the world's only current professional male athlete in a team sport who is openly gay. In December 2009 Thomas was voted top of the Pink List in 2010 of the 101 most influential gay people in the UK and he received Stonewall’s Hero of the Year award in October 2010.
