 Shane Williams watches Gavin Henson train with the Ospreys in January, 2009
Ospreys coaching boss Scott Johnson says the door is open for Gavin Henson to discuss a return to rugby. Speculation continues over Henson's intentions who has been on unpaid leave for the last 15 months. The 2005 & 2008 Wales Grand Slam winner has recently split from singer Charlotte Church but has spoken about a possible return. Johnson told BBC Sport Wales' The Back Page: "When he's willing to come and talk about rugby my door's open." Henson has been on unpaid leave since injury struck him down while playing for the Ospreys in April 2009. He was recently quoted in a Sunday newspaper supplement saying he wanted to play at the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand.  | We don't need to sit on someone's back an annoy them. The lad made a decision for personal reasons and we'll respect that |
He also raised the possibility of re-launching his career in England or even France. Johnson says he has respected Henson's wishes to keep the nature of their last conversation private and that he cannot consider the player's future until Welsh rugby's highest-profile celebrity makes an approach to his employers. "I think that he made a decision last year and we left it on good terms in the fact that when he was prepared to, if he wanted to play footy, come back knocking on our door and that hasn't happened yet," said Johnson. "So it's not disappointing. He's got other issues in his life and we've discussed that at the time and I take that as life hasn't changed. "Life moves on, you know, and you've got to and I've got another quite a number of players I've got to look after and if Gavin wants to come back and talk about rugby, well our door's open. "At that stage and at this stage it hasn't occurred so I've got responsibilities to others. "From our perspective, like I said, the last meeting I had with Gav everything was laid on the table and he needed to do things in his life. "We appreciate that and part of that is privacy and I'm not one of those people that need to go back. | 606: DEBATE |
"If Gavin wants to come back and talk to us, the door's open and he's been an Osprey since the inception. "We honour that so we don't need to sit on someone's back an annoy them. The lad made a decision for personal reasons and we'll respect that. "And until a conversation that comes differently, we don't give him another thought because we can't - it would show disrespect for the current group that are here. "But at no time have we shown disrespect to Gavin. So the door's open, but we haven't heard anything. "I had a conversation with Gavin. I will honour my part of it and I'll let the lad honour his and I'll respect his privacy and his wishes. "I coach the kid. When he's willing to come and talk about rugby my door's open so at the end of the day we get on with our work and that's what we've got to do." You can listen to The Back Page interview with Scott Johnson on Saturday, 0830 BST on BBC Radio Wales.
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