Elbow costs Henson 10 weeks

Gavin Henson has been in trouble all year, whether with the Lions or Wales or Ospreys. Picture / Mark Mitchell

Gavin Henson is making a habit of getting on the nerves of the wrong people.

His prolonged public sulk at missing out on the first test with the All Blacks this year cost him the support of some of his Lions colleagues, while his decision to publish a warts-and-all diary of his season cost him the good fellowship of the Wales squad, with whom he had shared a precious Grand Slam moment in the spring.

Now he finds himself on the wrong side of a disciplinary panel. The price he will pay for that is more tangible.

Banned for 10 weeks and two days for elbowing Leicester prop Alex Moreno in the face during last weekend's bitter Heineken Cup pool match in Swansea, Ospreys centre Henson will see three caps go to someone else.

Unless he wins an appeal against the sentence - the Ospreys management have yet to decide on their next move, although they professed disappointment at the scale of the penalty - he will miss the Six Nations internationals with England, Scotland and Ireland.

He might miss the game with Italy too. That takes place on March 11, only six days after the end of his suspension.

Henson, who only recently recovered from surgery on a chronic groin condition, was cited by Bill Dunlop, a European Rugby Cup match commissioner, after television footage exposed his assault on Moreno.

The 23-year-old midfielder had been on the receiving end of some Leicester skulduggery the previous weekend, but retaliation has never been considered an excuse in rugby.

An ERC tribunal sitting in Glasgow decided he had intentionally struck Moreno in contravention of Law 10.4 (a).

Moreno's nose was broken, not that Leicester were particularly worried on his behalf. He is a prop, after all. They were more concerned with the consequences of a stamp by promising young Ospreys lock Ian Evans on their halfback, Harry Ellis, who ended up with damaged knee ligaments that required minor corrective surgery.

Evans has also been dealt with, the panel banning him for eight weeks and two days.

Mike Ruddock, the Wales coach, was profoundly concerned with the ramifications of the Henson business, however, and he made his feelings known immediately on hearing the verdict.

"It is disappointing news for Gavin, the Ospreys and the Welsh team," he said. "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.

"What this citing case proves is the importance for players at all levels to maintain good discipline."

To all intents and purposes, Ruddock has given up on Henson in terms of the forthcoming Six Nations.

Evans has not done his immediate career prospects any good either. He had every chance of being named among the replacements for at least one of the early tournament fixtures.

As the coach said: "These decisions will make it difficult for both players to achieve selection for the championship."

The tribunal, which cleared Henson of a second charge of aiming a kick at Moreno, was chaired by Rod McKenzie, of the Scottish Rugby Union. He was accompanied by a fellow Scot, Professor Lorne Crerar, and a member of the Irish union, Dr Barry O'Driscoll, who is related to the injured Lions captain Brian O'Driscoll.

This was not one of the ERC administration's more diplomatic appointments, given Henson's sharp criticism of Brian O'Driscoll in his book, although there was no suggestion that the Ospreys contingent had a problem with the makeup of the panel.

There was some grim news for England as well as their near neighbours yesterday.

Ben Cohen, the Northampton wing, was diagnosed as suffering from a fractured cheekbone - an injury that will incapacitate him for at least a month and threatens his participation in the Six Nations opener with Wales at Twickenham on February 4.

Cohen first damaged the cheekbone during a fundraising match for the Asian tsunami victims last season and did something similar during last weekend's European Challenge Cup victory over Narbonne.

England have options in the wing department: Tom Varndell, of Leicester, looked every inch a test player on debut against Samoa last month.

But Cohen, back in his pomp after a prolonged bout of post-World Cup blues, was Andy Robinson's preferred choice in the more demanding games against Australia and New Zealand and would have expected to hold his place for the meeting with Wales.

- INDEPENDENT