Gavin Henson is even hungrier now after final heartache

Gavin Henson has been backed to be  Bristol‘s promotion catalyst by head coach Sean Holley, following the fly-half’s return from serious injury almost a month ahead of schedule.
Henson broke a shin bone during the first leg of May‘s Championship final against Worcester, but starred in last week’s impressive 36-22 win at London Welsh.
Holley told TRP: “Gavin’s professionalism is massive and to come back at least three weeks ahead of schedule is full credit to him.
“Missing that last game against Worcester hurt him but he’s responded to that and was determined to get back after that disappointment.
“We’ve got great options at 10 and 12 now, with Matthew Morgan to come back from the World Cup, and Gav’s going to be key for us.
“Along with Adrian Jarvis and Ben Mosses, you need guys who can step in and perform and the early signs are looking good for us again.”
Holley insists the agony of missing out on a place in the Premiership to Worcester in dramatic fashion has now been fully exorcised.
Bristol were seconds away from promotion at Sixways, only to be denied by a last gasp Chris Pennell try and Ryan Lamb’s conversion.
But Holley, below, said: “The boys have been fantastic. We put it to bed on the first day of pre-season and nobody’s even mentioned it since.
“It was a huge blow, though. We put everything into it the season before, when we lost to Welsh, and put even more into it last year.
“To get into a position where you’re 13 points up with six minutes to go and then miss out is pretty heartbreaking. I’ve never been involved in anything like it and the knock-on effect in recruitment and ticket sales is massive.
“But the boys have been really professional about it and all you can do is dust yourself down and push on with the new season.”
Holley believes Bristol will be stronger, adding: “Beating London Welsh was a huge boost. They were at full strength while we have guys at the World Cup like Morgan, Jack Lam, Anthony Perenise and Tommaso Benvenuti.
“There are some good teams around – Welsh have depth, Yorkshire are dangerous and Bedford looked good against us – but our result at Welsh might send a few messages out, with a lot of boys still to come back.”
NEALE HARVEY