Glamour boy gives the silent treatment

Gavin Henson says he's just itching to get on the paddock against Bay of Plenty. Picture / Fotopress

We all know about the tinted spiky hair, coloured boots and girlfriend Charlotte Church but Lions midfielder Gavin Henson didn't have much to say in his first interview in New Zealand.

Was he normally shy and conservative or just being cautiously defensive at the start of his greatest rugby adventure?

Hard to tell really as he delivered some very impassive answers even for those British and Irish media with which he may be familiar.

Perhaps the groin strain he suffered a few months ago was weighing on his mind, or perhaps he was just being very sensible to avoid any controversy before he begins the tour opener against Bay of Plenty.

An early questioner got no change from Henson when asked whether he had a point to prove to either Graham Henry or Steve Hansen about not being a regular choice for their Welsh teams.

That inquiry was batted away with talk about looking forward to the start of the tour after two months without a game.

A cortisone injection a month ago had taken away the pain and inflammation and the 23-year-old felt ready for his Lions debut alongside captain Brian O'Driscoll.

Obviously he courted a test place and wanted to set a strong standard for his Lions competitors. He accepted there were some expectations but Henson was only concentrating on this game at Rotorua.

Individual flair had to be balanced against team necessity and tactics. It was just great to be on tour with a world-class squad and to be picked alongside the "best centre in the world".

"I look up to him, I listen to him because he always makes sense, he helps out and talks to me," Henson said of his skipper.

A questioner, arriving late with a query about whether Lions selection had been a realistic goal or a distant dream, was told to ask one of his mates as Henson had already given that answer.

The five-eighths has been picked for Wales from school level through to tests where he made his debut as a teenager in 2001 after winning the IRB Young Player of the Year trophy the year before.

Henson's powerful running, useful goalkicking and strong defence alongside Stephen Jones helped Wales to this season's Grand Slam.

On the evidence of that, did he back himself for a Lions test jersey?

The stare came. Henson cited his lack of recent matchplay and wish to just get out on the paddock.

He was learning a great deal, especially about how professional the squad was dealing with their off-field duties while Jonny Wilkinson's work ethic "was just something else, eh. He is on the field non-stop".

Henson knew little about Bay of Plenty but was not nervous.

"I don't get nervous," he said, "I enjoy the game so much, I get so excited about playing it, I don't see the point in getting nervous."

Sounds a lot like a recently departed Auckland five-eighths, someone who also brought all sorts of colour to his life and rugby, but was a reluctant conversationalist outside the whitewash.

If Henson produces the sort of impact Carlos Spencer did in his heyday, then New Zealand and the Lions are in for a treat.