Wacky reason why Chris Ashton had to shelve Ash Splash celebration

The brutal moment when Saracens made Gavin Henson feel embarrassed

“I got about two people right out of a squad of about 45. I got David Strettle. I don’t know who else I got. They found it hilarious. It was back to me being an introvert. I didn’t like that. So that was embarrassing. That environment didn’t work for me. It was like extroverts personified. I get that but I was like: ‘I need to run a million miles.’”

Henson also recalled his bizarre dawn wrestling sessions with Brendan Venter, the then Saracens director of rugby who coaxed him to return to playing after his sabbatical. “Brendan Venter – wow, what a guy,” enthused Henson.

“He had this perception of me; I’ve been on Strictly (Come Dancing) and it’s: ‘Who is this f***ing idiot?’ He thought I was soft. He had me in every morning, 6.30am. Wrestling. I had to wrestle him. We were outside, it was freezing, on this artificial pitch just with a t-shirt and shorts with the fitness coach on a stopwatch.

“He says: ‘Go.’ We’re on our knees for a minute of wrestling. Then he blows the whistle and I’ve got to go and do shuttles; he rests, I come back in and we wrestle again. He comes in with his head, headbutts me, splits my eye and we’re wrestling like this every morning for four weeks. Are you serious? So yes, I didn’t last long there.”