Rugby: Sharks coach tempts Henson

Welsh player Gavin Henson and singer Charlotte Church were dubbed the 'Posh & Becks' of rugby but the pair have recently split. Photo / Getty Images

Welsh glamour boy Gavin Henson has drawn interest from Sharks coach John Plumtree as a possible Super 15 player next year.

Henson - an unhappy tourist with the 2005 Lions in New Zealand - has just split with singing star Charlotte Church, igniting a media frenzy in the UK. The pair are regarded as rugby's "Posh & Becks".

Henson has not played since March 2008 after suffering a raft of groin and ankle injuries. He has said he wants come back to rugby next season, in time for the World Cup.

Plumtree, who was in charge of Swansea as Henson began breaking through into senior rugby, has offered Henson the chance to come to Natal and escape the Welsh rugby goldfish bowl.

"I don't want to cut across the Ospreys because I know some of the people there. But if Gavin feels he needs a change of scenery he is welcome to come over here," said Plumtree to the Western Mail.

"He can give me a ring and we will see how the land lies. The Super 15 would suit a flair player like Gav. He is a fantastic talent, someone who is too good not to be playing rugby.

"If there's a contract in place, that complicates things. But contracts don't always last. I'm a fan and always have been. As a youngster he could do things on the pitch that hardly anyone else could do.

"In one game, I remember him spinning around and planting over a drop goal from near the halfway line. It reminded me of Naas Botha in his prime."

Henson has previously publicly stated he wants to play Super rugby and has also been linked with the Melbourne Rebels.

However, that would end his World Cup hopes as Wales coach Warren Gatland will not select those playing outside of Wales if he can help it.

"Super 14 is what I liked watching as a youngster, so I would want to be a part of it one day," Henson is on record as saying.

"It is a way off because there are lots of things I want to achieve with the Ospreys, and obviously Wales, and, until then, I'm not going anywhere."

Gatland has made it clear both that he wants Henson back, and that Henson needs to have been playing regularly and be fully fit before he can come back.

"The most important thing is to be playing really well and to be in contention for the [2011] Six Nations," said Gatland.

"After that, it can't happen. The [November] tests will probably be too early for him, but the Six Nations, if he is playing well enough, may make him a possibility for the World Cup."