Gavin Henson’s hopes of being selected for the British and Irish Lions’ tour of South Africa may have come to an end after he was ruled out for up to six weeks with an ankle injury.
The Wales center damaged ligaments in his right ankle during Opsreys’ Anglo-Welsh Cup semi-final loss to Gloucester in Coventry on Saturday. Lions head coach Ian McGeechan is due to name his squad for a three-Test series with the world champion Springboks on April 21. But Chris Towers, physiotherapist with the Welsh regional side, said on Tuesday that the 27-year-old Henson would not be playing again until at least early May.
“Following the MRI scan and specialist consultation on Monday, we can confirm that Gavin has suffered damage to the ligaments on both the lateral and medial sides of his right ankle,” Towers said.
PHOTO: AFP
“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,” he said.
Henson, who made one Test appearance for the Lions in New Zealand four years ago, has seen his season interrupted by a series of injuries and started just two of Wales’ nine internationals this term. McGeechan is planning to select a squad of 35 and the Scot, who guided the Lions to a series win over the Springboks 12 years ago, has said he wants all his players fully fit by the time they set off for South Africa.
Henson will now miss Ospreys’ European Cup quarter-final against defending champions Munster on April 12 and, in a best case scenario, would now appear to have a maximum of five games to prove his fitness before the Lions depart — and two of those depend upon his club reaching the European Cup final.
Injury-plagued outside-half Jonny Wilkinson of Engalnd, on the verge of making a comeback from a dislocated knee injury that has kept him out for six months, is also battling to get fit in time for the Lions tour.
The tour starts on May 30, when the Lions play a warm-up match against a Highveld 15, with the first Test in Durban on June 20.
SIBLING RIVALRY: Marc Marquez was locked in a duel with his little brother, falling behind at one point before recovering for his first season-opening victory since 2014 Six-time world champion Marc Marquez yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening Thailand Grand Prix to complete a dominant debut weekend at his new Ducati Lenovo Team, having also romped to Saturday’s sprint. The Spanish great took the 26-lap grand prix by 1.732 seconds for his 63rd MotoGP victory from younger brother Alex Marquez, who is still seeking a first checkered flag, with Francesco Bagnaia third to complete an all-Ducati podium. It completed a perfect weekend for Marc Marquez, who took pole position, the sprint victory and the grand prix win for a maximum 37 points to open the 22-leg 2025 campaign. He led from
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
LONG TIME COMING: With the addition of Marcus Smart, the Washington Wizards finally held a team to under 100 points, the last team this season to do so The Detroit Pistons on Monday won their seventh straight game in the NBA with in-form Cade Cunningham making 32 points and grabbing nine rebounds in a 106-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. The Pistons, who are in the playoff position, moved to 32-26, their best record at this stage of a season for 17 years. It was an all-round effort from Detroit with Tobias Harris adding 20 points and Jalen Duren making 19 rebounds along with his 12 points. It was a tight contest until Detroit pulled away late in the third quarter to tie their longest winning streak since the 2014-2015
AC Milan’s slender hopes of reaching next season’s UEFA Champions League took another hit on Thursday with a 2-1 defeat at Bologna which left them eight points from Serie A’s top four. Sergio Conceicao’s team sit eighth, some way behind fourth-placed Juventus after losing an entertaining contest at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, a match which was rescheduled from October last year due to torrential rain and flooding. Swathes of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy, much of which is fertile agricultural land, had been left under water following a massive autumn downpour. Dan Ndoye prodded home the decisive goal in the 82nd minute
RSS