Gavin Henson: My Grand Slam Year

In the end a good few of us did go out with the management’s blessing although no-one was going to push it by sinking too many drinks. The centre of Cardiff was awash with thousands of fans and none of us really had the energy to deal with it for long. In fact, by the time the official post-match dinner had finished at the Hilton Hotel I was starting to feel tired. Mathew Tait was presented with his first cap, which was a proud moment for him, but there was no hiding the disappointment on his face that night along with the rest of the England players.

Secretly, I was also a bit disappointed that evening. I was hoping that a couple of hours spent in the centre of Cardiff might mean bumping into Charlotte Church. I had met Charlotte for the first time after our previous game in November against Japan. I knew she would have watched the England game and was probably out celebrating along with thousands of other people. I didn’t have her phone number, but even if I had then I probably wouldn’t have rung it. That’s just not me. I think I would have wanted her to make that first move. There was also the fact that she was still seeing her previous boyfriend at that stage. But she was certainly on my mind, and, if I’m honest, I’d been thinking a fair bit about her. I knew she would be watching that afternoon and it provided me with another reason for desperately wanting to do well.

An hour or so after the end of the official dinner, though, I was flagging and there was no sign of Charlotte. I met up with a couple of my mates from Bridgend and then took a cab back to the team hotel. As I was heading back I checked my text messages. There were loads from friends congratulating me on the win over England and the kick, but as I scrolled through I realised there was nothing from Charlotte. One stood out, though. It was from Lyn Jones, my coach at the Neath-Swansea Ospreys. There were no congratulations. It just said: ‘Next time, tuck your shirt in.’

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