Bath want Gavin Henson to fight for his place
Henson has put a drunken pre-season episode behind him to become a popular member of Bath’s squad since arriving from London Welsh last summer.
The Wales centre wants to stay and Ford hopes a deal can be thrashed out that will enable the experienced 32-year-old to remain at the Rec.
“I’d like to keep Gavin,” Ford told The Rugby Paper. “He covers 10, 12 and 15, he’s a goal-kicker and he wants to stay at Bath, which is the main thing.
“He’s well liked by the crowd here, he’s been a good citizen for us and he’s trained really hard.
“The recruitment jigsaw is always moving but we’ve said we’re still deciding on our squad for next season and we’ll have to see how the pieces fall.
“We’ve been really honest with him and he’s willing to wait until summer when we’ll finalise our decisions over who’s going to be with us.”
Bath already boast an embarrassment of riches in midfield, where LV= breakthrough player Ollie Devoto has been starring alongside former League man Kyle Eastmond, who is finally living up to his billing after signing from St Helens in 2011.
Classy England centre Jonathan Joseph is back from injury in a fortnight, while Matt Banahan is also considered by Ford to be a midfield option.
And with League star Sam Burgess joining next season from South Sydney, Ford cannot help licking his lips at Bath’s midfield potential.
“If Gavin stays, we’ll have fantastic options,” Ford said. “You look at our back-line and while we’ve had ups and downs, there’s so much more to come.
“Ollie’s come through and been fantastic, while we’ve pencilled in Jonathan for the Gloucester game, if not Brive – and you can put Matt Banahan in there as well because I’m not going to pigeon-hole anyone in terms of position.
“Ollie can play 10, 12 and 13 and I’d be happy playing him anywhere, while Gavin’s put a good run together since his calf injury. And as for Kyle, we haven’t even scratched the surface with what he can achieve next to George (Ford).”
Ford believes there is more to come from Eastmond, adding: “Kyle’s done well but when you sit down and look at games with him, then talk to the other boys about opportunities missed, that’s what’s makes this really exciting.
“If we can develop our game-plan, we’re not really sure how far we can go. The ability Kyle’s got to influence a game has been good but we know it can be so much greater.”
All of which begs the question: where will Sam Burgess fit in?
“We’re going to have a look at what he can do at the ruck first,” Ford explains. “We’re not going to put any pressure on him whether he’s going to play in the centre or back row.
“He’ll probably play his first game at 12 because that’s the easiest to start off in. But after that we’ll decide where he’s best suited for Bath Rugby.”
That is for the future. The here and now concerns chasing silverware and Ford believes Bath are well placed to claim their first trophy since 2008.
However, he concedes: “We still see ourselves as unproven and the LV semi-final result against Exeter last weekend was probably the first real blip we’ve had. People thought we should win, but we didn’t, so we’ve done nothing yet.
“Northampton and Saracens are above all the competition this year, then below that there’s four or five teams competing hard. We’re sat third, level points with Leicester, and the table doesn’t lie, but we’re excited about the rest of the season.
“We’ve given ourselves an opportunity and the guys are buzzing. That semi-final loss has made us that little bit more determined to succeed.”
Ford was in Rome yesterday to watch his son, England fly-half George, and was delighted to see him handed another chance off the bench.
He added: “It’s George’s form for Bath that got him into the England set-up and the coaches here have done a great job getting him front-foot ball.
“The environment’s been right for him, the people alongside him have been good – Peter Stringer especially – and he understands it’s a team game.
“Could he have been blooded by England earlier? It’s difficult for Stuart Lancaster but they might have missed an opportunity against Scotland.
“But he’s in there now and they’ll look to start him in one of the games against New Zealand this summer, so he’ll get his chance to impress.”
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