Gavin Henson, once the golden boy of Welsh rugby, has swapped the spotlight of international sport for the quieter life of a pub landlord. After retiring in 2019, he took over The Fox and Hounds in St Brides Major, Vale of Glamorgan, managing the venue—now renamed The Fox—alongside his wife Katie.
New Role as Pub Landlord
Henson became the landlord of the pub in 2019 following an extensive refurbishment. He told The Times: "I was coming to the end of my career, and it had been sat here for 18 months, two years. It was not nice for the village, and I needed something to do after rugby and to be busy, not to mourn rugby and get depressed, as they say everyone does."
Despite his new venture, Henson hasn't completely left rugby behind. He laced up his boots again to play for his boyhood team, Pencoed, in the fourth tier of Welsh rugby. Speaking to BBC Scrum V, he said: "I'm 43 now, so a bit old, as my wife tells me. But I've missed it, I've missed the physicality of it, and being in a team environment again and trying to win."
Life-Changing Diagnosis
Retirement brought more than a new job; it brought a new understanding of himself. Henson, now 44, made a "life-changing" discovery after reading Professor Steve Peters' book The Chimp Paradox, which explains how to control the 'chimp'—the voice that tells you to do things you maybe shouldn't.
During his career, Henson hit the headlines for off-field incidents, including being sacked by Cardiff in 2012 for drunken behaviour on a flight and being knocked out by Bath teammate Carl Fearns in 2013. He explained: "I didn't understand the thoughts I was having after games where I wanted to go out and drink. They were a million miles away from my core values and goals in rugby."
"Now, having read the book, I understand that for most of my rugby career, the chimp was controlling me and running my life more than I was. If I'd found the book while I was still playing rugby, I'd 100 per cent have been a better player and maybe I wouldn't have made the mistakes I did."
Bombshell Drugs Claim
In a 2020 interview with WalesOnline, Henson claimed that certain former Wales internationals took performance-enhancing drugs. This followed remarks by former head coach Warren Gatland, who mentioned suspicions about a player doping during his first reign. Gatland later clarified his suspicions were not serious, but Henson argued for an investigation.
Henson said: "I've been in an environment where the drug testers come in and there's one or two boys who run out. That's happened at professional level. How it is acceptable, I don't know, but as a player you can't do anything about it."
He added: "Of course it made me angry. Boys are cheating and those kind 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."
Henson also suggested that those caught doping should face jail: "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."
