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'If a player gets caught taking drugs it should be a jail sentence because you're stealing a living'
By Online Editors
Gavin Henson believes the suggestion by ex-Wales coach Warren Gatland that a player may have taken performance-enhancing drugs during his long stint in charge should have resulted in a full-blown investigation.
Gatland, who made the remark over the winter during a promotional interview for his new book, eventually played down what he had said, suggesting that what he had hinted was merely dressing room banter.
But Henson, who earned 13 of his 33 Wales caps under Gatland, insisted the issue should not be trivialised. Now retired from playing, the 38-year-has been forging a new career for himself as a village pub owner in St Brides Major just outside Bridgend.
Speaking to walesonline.co.uk in an extensive midweek interview, the two-time Grand Slam winner and 2005 Lions tourist claimed any inkling regarding performance-enhancing drugs must be taken seriously.
“I’ve been in an environment where the drug testers come in and there are one or two boys who run out. That's happened at professional level,” he revealed. “How it is acceptable, I don’t know, but as a player, you can’t do anything about it.
“Of course it made me angry. Boys are cheating and those kinds of things give you such an advantage. There are boys who have had careers on the back of taking stuff that has cost other players international places, or even club team places, which is really lucrative.
“For me, I feel the rule that should be in place is if you get caught taking drugs it should be a jail sentence because you are stealing a living. You are taking money from someone else. One or two boys were quite open and honest about it but there is no proof.
“There was always changing room talk but unless you are a doctor or something you can’t prove it. For a coach to say what Gatland did, I felt like there should be an investigation, but there we go.”
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Latest Comments
I didn't mean to sound down on Dmac. Just looking hard at the bench sub's role of providing impact. I don't think he can do that at 15, and the bench is not really about injury cover anymore (you need to maximise it's use more than that).
He's my first choice of any New Zealander for the 10 jersey with the All Blacks.
Go to commentsAgreed. And I don't have much more to say on it, but I had been having one thought that sprang to mind at the tail of this discussion, and that is that it's not all about Razor.
It's not about any coach being "right". I think a lot of selections can become defense and while it doesn't really apply here I really enjoyed that Andy Farrell just gave into the public demands and changed out his team for the change that had been asked for. Like why not? This is the countries team, keep them engaged. The whole reason i've only just finished watching the game was because I wasn't interested in watching any of the selected players against a team like Italy (still actually enjoyed the first half with the contest Italy made of it).
Faz leap frogs a younger half back into start. He hands the golden child the game over July's golden child. He gives an old winger a go, a new flanker and hooker. None of them really did any good, certainly not enough to suggest they should have been promoted above others, but who cares? You won, and you gave the country what they wanted, that's all that matters after all. It's for the country, not the one in charge who thinks they have to have their own pied piper tune playing.
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