Thursday, December 6, 2007

Broken hand puts Henson out of action for up to six weeks

Gavin Henson has broken a bone in his left hand, and will not play rugby for between four and six weeks. He suffered the injury during the Ospreys' victory over Harlequins in the EDF Energy Cup last weekend. Henson fractured his fourth metacarpal and has been fitted with a cast. While he will be able to continue training, he will not be considered for selection until the injury has healed naturally.

Henson suffered the injury in the 64th minute of the match, when he drove into a ruck. "It appears that an opposition boot accidentally came into contact with his hand and Gavin can clearly be seen holding his left hand as he gets back to his feet," confirmed an Ospreys statement.


"Gavin was able to complete the game, albeit in some pain, and he was checked out immediately after the final whistle by our medical team who diagnosed a suspected fracture of the fourth metacarpal in his left hand. We then secured the earliest available appointment at the Vale Clinic for him to undergo an x-ray on Monday, where our initial fears were confirmed.

"Understandably, Gavin was keen not to rule himself out and wanted to have as much time as possible to prove his fitness ahead of the weekend, but having received the opinion of a second specialist, he has accepted that he has to allow the bone healing to occur naturally. He has now had his left hand set in a lightweight cast and, whilst he will be able to continue with his fitness training, it is expected that he will be unavailable for selection for a period of four to six weeks whilst the bone heals."

Ospreys' director of rugby, Kevin Hopkins, remarked: "Both Gavin and our medical staff have worked hard in an effort to get him on the pitch against Ulster this coming Friday, but in the end we have decided that Gavin's long term well being is best served by him getting the hand properly sorted over the next few weeks. This disappointment has however been softened by the timely return of James Hook, Ian Gough and Filo Tiatia to the squad for the important double header with Ulster."

Full article: http://sport.guardian.co.uk/rugbyunion/story/0,,2223168,00.html

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