Henson was only Blues player who drank ‘to excess’ in Glasgow

Cardiff Blues backs coach Gareth Baber has defended the decision to allow players, including Gavin Henson, to go out for a drink in Glasgow following Friday’s defeat at Firhill.

The Blues sacked Wales centre Henson on Wednesday after the 30-year-old was among “several” players who went out after the 31-3 loss to Glasgow in the RaboDirect PRO12 league.

When his team-mates returned to the hotel, though, Henson did not and continued to drink on the flight back from Scotland, with his alcohol-fuelled behaviour leading to his eventual sacking.

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Baber said: “They went out, several of them went out. But they did not take it to the excess that that individual [Henson] did. They came back to the hotel and they were fine. They are grown men and they are professionals. It takes a lot for players to wind down and we [Baber and forwards coach Justin Burnell] were doing the same in the hotel ourselves.

“Obviously it was a bit disappointing to be in that situation on Saturday morning but that’s the way it was.”