Former England hooker Brian Moore says Gavin Henson's absence will not have a big impact on reigning champions Wales' 2006 Six Nations campaign. Henson will miss the first three games of the tournament after being banned for 10 weeks and two days on Friday for striking Leicester's Alejandro Moreno.
"I don't think Wales will miss him that much," Moore told BBC Sport.
"His potential is fantastic in every way, but it is still potential - it is yet to be proved."
Henson was cited after the Ospreys' Heineken Cup defeat by Leicester at the weekend. Henson retaliated after Moreno appeared to catch him around the head.
The Welsh star was found guilty of elbowing the prop in the face but cleared of kicking out him as well.
 |  (Henson) is going to be targeted, it is as simple as that |
Moore said he had some sympathy for Henson, as he had been provoked, but said it was inevitable that he would be banned.
"He's at fault because he's retaliated and he's got caught," Moore said.
"The problem - and not just for Henson but for anyone nowadays - is that there are enough cameras around and the citing officials are very vigilant.
"They have been told by the IRB that this sort of thing cannot go on - it's very different from what it used to be like.
"I was not surprised he was cited because once it had come through that Moreno had broken his nose it put the incident in a different category. People couldn't overlook it."
Moore warned Henson he must understand that his high profile has made him a target for attention.
"I feel a bit of sympathy for Henson but what he's got to understand, or certainly his advisers have got to understand, is the following:
"If he is marketed as something outside the sport and he hits the headlines for other reasons, as he is doing, then scrutiny is going to fall on him in all areas of his life, including what he does on the field.
"It's no good saying it's a media frenzy, because that is exacerbated by the way he is marketed.
"These things are going to be headlines and today's news has been keenly anticipated in lots of different areas of the media.
"He is going to be targeted, it is as simple as that.
"If you prove you've got a suspect temperament as well then it is going to carry on all the time."
MMIX
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