Gavin Henson is risk worth taking, says Wales coach Warren Gatland

There is no place in Gatland’s squad for former Wasps No 8 Andy Powell, however, who left the Premiership club after being suspended for his role in an altercation with football fans in a west London pub that resulted in him being knocked unconscious and requiring 10 stitches for a head wound.

Powell however is expected to receive more positive news on Tuesday, when it is understood he is likely to sign for Sale Sharks, despite strong interest from London Irish and rugby league sides Wigan Warriors and Celtic Crusaders.

Henson, who last played for Wales in their Six Nations defeat by Ireland in March 2009 before going on a 19-month self-imposed exile from the game, is included in a 26-man squad from which Gatland will select his team to tackle the Barbarians in Cardiff on June 4.

The 29 year-old’s call-up comes after the Toulon centre was suspended by his club for fighting with his team-mates following their Top 14 victory over Toulouse last month.

Toulon initially suggested Henson would have no future at the club, but his suspension was lifted and he appeared as a substitute during their defeat by Montpellier on Saturday.

Henson’s future at Toulon, whom he joined after an unsuccessful four-match stint at Saracens having secured an early release from his contract at the Ospreys, is still uncertain.

Gatland insists the former 2005 Lions tourist, and two-time Grand Slam winner, was worth the gamble. “This game gives us an opportunity to get Gavin back into the fold,” said Gatland. “We want to have a look at a quality player. I know there have been certain issues, but all I can say about Gavin is that when he has been in our squad you couldn’t get a guy who has been more professional in terms of the training environment. He has played well for us.

“If we can get the best out of Gavin, I think it would be good for Wales. We have been prepared to take that risk with Gavin.”

Meanwhile, Sport England has cut funding to the Rugby Football Union by more than £1 million because the governing body failed to meet participation targets for both the men’s and women’s game.

Sport England’s “Active People” survey showed that the number of adults playing rugby union at least once a week has declined from 230,000 at the start of the funding period, in 2009, to 177,900 at the latest calculation, leading to a cut in funding of just over £30 million by £1.078 million.

“We have to accept that the failure to meet our Sport England targets over the last few years would inevitably affect the level of funding we receive,” said RFU chief executive John Steele. “However, I now believe we have far more realistic targets for the next two years and we are committed to creating a sound platform for growth as we move towards the home World Cup in 2015.”

WALES SQUAD - Forwards: P James (Ospreys), J Yapp (Cardiff Blues), R Bevington (Ospreys), S Andrews (Cardiff Blues), H Bennett (Ospreys), R Hibbard (Ospreys), L Burns (Newport Gwent Dragons), A-W Jones (Ospreys), R Jones (Ospreys), L Charteris (Newport Gwent Dragons), L Reed (Scarlets), D Lydiate (Newport Gwent Dragons), T Faletau (Newport Gwent Dragons), J Turnbull (Scarlets), S Warburton (Cardiff Blues, capt). Backs: M Stoddart (Scarlets), G North (Scarlets), A Brew (Newport Gwent Dragons), S Williams (Ospreys), J Davies (Scarlets), S Williams (Scarlets), G Henson (Toulon), S Jones (Scarlets), R Priestland (Scarlets), M Phillips (Ospreys), T Knoyle (Scarlets).

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India appoint Fletcher as coach

World Cup winners India have appointed former England boss Duncan Fletcher as coach on a two-year contract.

The 62-year-old succeeds South African Gary Kirsten and becomes their fourth successive foreign coach.

Fletcher won a record eight consecutive Tests for England in 2004 before guiding the team to a long overdue Ashes success in 2005.

England coach Andy Flower was the Indian board's first choice but he was unwilling to uproot his family.

Former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming, now coaching Indian Premier League side Chennai Super Kings, was another possible candidate.

But it is thought Flower, also from Zimbabwe, was always reluctant having settled in England. Fleming was viewed as a long shot, and had publicly distanced himself from the role.

Michael Vaughan, the former England captain who formed a close bond with Fletcher during their most successful period, tweeted: "Great coach who will work well with [India captain Mahendra] Dhoni.

"Duncan will work well with all the talent. His biggest challenge will come from the media. He has never really understood how it works."

Fletcher's first major assignment with India, the number one Test side, will come when they tour England from mid-July for the summer's eagerly awaited tour. It features Tests at Lord's, Trent Bridge, Edgbaston and The Oval, plus one Twenty20 international and five one-day internationals.

Leading up to that is an Indian tour of the West Indies in June, featuring one Twenty20 international, five one-day internationals and three Tests. Fletcher may not be involved in that.

"He may not join the team in the West Indies as he has some prior commitments," Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary, N Srinivasan, said.

New Zealand's former Test captain John Wright was the first man from overseas to take the job regarded as the most heavily scrutinised in cricket.

Wright was in the post between 2000 and 2005 before ex-Australia skipper Greg Chappell took over for two years.

After the 2007 World Cup, India had no full-time coach, relying on specialist bowling and fielding coaches instead. That ended when Kirsten, a former South African batsman closely mentored by Fletcher at Western Province, took over in March 2008.

Former India spinner Maninder Singh believes the appointment of Fletcher is a good one.

"I played a bit of cricket with him and he was a very intelligent cricketer," Singh told the BBC. "He has done wonders with English cricket.

"But I think he will have to be careful when he comes to coaching the Indian team because in India it is better that the coach is there in the background instead of trying to come in front.

"He will have to do what Gary Kirsten and John Wright did, keep talking to the boys, keep encouraging the boys and I think he could do wonders with them because there is a lot of talent in India.

"He will have to work with the younger boys in the team. They are a very talented lot but somewhere down the line they are not able to perform consistently when playing international cricket."

Fletcher, who was honoured with an OBE after England's 2005 Ashes win over Australia, is known for picking players on hunches rather than on statistical achievements - a notable example being the highly successful Somerset opener Marcus Trescothick.

But he is also known not to suffer fools gladly, and Graeme Swann famously made only one appearance under his regime, Fletcher feeling the off-spinner was a loose cannon.

Eric Simons, who was India's bowling coach during Kirsten's tenure, will continue in his role and is likely to enjoy a good relationship with Fletcher through their Western Province links.

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Coach Maguire to leave Wigan

The Australian, who won the title in his first season, has decided to return down under after accepting an offer to join South Sydney from 2012.

The Rabbitohs, whose joint owner is Hollywood actor Russell Crowe, will bring in Maguire as successor to veteran head coach John Lang.

Maguire's assistant Shaun Wane heads the list of contenders to replace him.

"Without a doubt," said Maguire, "He's helped build what we've done, he's dedicated and he's a great candidate.

"The systems are in place here and there are some really good people that work with me."

Wigan chairman Ian Lenagan added: "The first we knew of it was Michael talking to us about the possibility 10 days ago and I asked him to keep me informed.

"There was no question of not releasing him. It's not at all acrimonious. We understand he wishes to go back to Australia and we would not stand in his way."

After telling the club of his decision earlier in the day, Maguire, 37, publicly revealed his intended switch after his side ended their three-game run without a victory by winning 28-16 win at Hull KR on Friday night.

Souths had originally made Wayne Bennett, whose St George Illawarra side beat Wigan in the World Club Challenge in February, their number one target.

But the former Brisbane, Queensland and Australia coach has instead agreed to join Newcastle Knights when his current deal with runs out at the end of the season.

And, so soon into his time at Wigan, that left Maguire with a tough decision to make.

But he believes he will be leaving the club in good shape - and insists that there may be more to come before he departs in October.

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We have worked hard and we got on the big stage and that's where Wigan should be. But I want to achieve a hell of a lot more. I want to make sure we do that

Michael Maguire Wigan coach

"We have worked hard and we got on the big stage and that's where Wigan should be," he said. "But I want to achieve a hell of a lot more. And I want to make sure we do that.

"In my time here we've been able to build a great team that will take things forward for Wigan.

"The players are a great bunch and I enjoy coaching them. And we have a lot of footy in front of us.

"But it was a tough decision. The speculation has been going on for a hell of a long time, but, over the last couple of days, it became real and for personal reasons I chose that it was the right time."

Maguire was understudy to Craig Bellamy at Melbourne Storm before initially joining the Warriors on a two-year contract in October 2009, with an option for a third season.

Having succeeded Brian Noble at the DW Stadium, he struck gold at the first attempt, guiding Wigan to their first Super League title for 12 years.

But Wigan have suffered a stuttering start to the new campaign, winning only four of their first eight Super League games.

After letting slip a 16-0 lead with just 15 minutes left to be held by fierce local rivals St Helens in the season opener at the Millennium Stadium, they have since been held at Leeds, as well as suffering home defeats by Warrington and Catalan Dragons.

Last Friday night's 47-28 loss to the Catalans maintained their worrying sequence of results in front of their own fans.

Including their World Club Challenge defeat, Wigan have lost three of this term's four home games - and, in the other game, they had to come from behind late on to beat Hull 14-12.

But Wigan have been affected by injuries, chiefly to last season's record-breaking points scorer Pat Richards, as well as being affected by the off-field issues that caused them to let go of Great Britain centre Martin Gleeson for an unspecified "serious distraction in his personal life".

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Shane Warne wants to coach India

Shane Warne has indicated that he would like to take over as India's coach following the departure of Gary Kirsten.

Kirsten stepped down from the role after leading India to their second World Cup title in Mumbai.

Warne is in India as he prepares for the upcoming Indian Premier League where he is captain-coach of the Rajasthan Royals. He earned plaudits for guiding the unfancied franchise to the inaugural IPL title three years ago and, while it remains his only coaching role, he has been touted as a potential India coach before.

"It is a very difficult job to be India coach, it is never easy," Warne told the Mail Today newspaper.

"But with India doing so well, it is a lot easier to take over right now than it has been in the past. I'd enjoy working with the Indian cricket team for sure."

Warne admitted whoever does take over the role faces a tough act to follow after Kirsten led India to their World Cup success as well as establishing them as the number one ranked Test side.

"He [Kirsten] is a quality person and it would be hard to find a replacement for him. He is a fantastic coach."

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