Gavin Henson: Bristol centre to miss return leg against Worcester

Bristol will be without Wales internationals Gavin Henson and Ryan Jones for next Wednesday's Greene King IPA Champonship play-off final second leg against Worcester.

Bristol rugby director Andy Robinson initially said that centre Henson suffered a broken foot during the second half of their 29-28 first leg defeat to the Warriors at Ashton Gate, but then later confirmed it to be a fractured shin.

Flanker Jones suffered a shoulder injury that will also rule him out of the return encounter at Sixways.

Bristol looked set to take a 28-22 advantage up the M5 after a thrilling encounter but they were undone by a last-gasp try from Niall Annett as Worcester boosted their chances of a quickfire return to the Aviva Premiership.

Worcester Warriors' Niall Annett is delighted with their slender lead, but says their Championship final against Bristol is not over yet. Worcester Warriors' Niall Annett is delighted with their slender lead, but says their Championship final against Bristol is not over yet.

Robinson said: "It ebbed and flowed. It was a fantastic game of rugby and a real rollercoaster ride for the supporters.

"I though that tactically Worcester played well, but we got ourselves back in the game and defended heroically. The second-half performance was very pleasing.

"To lose a lineout right at the end put us under pressure but credit to Worcester, they kept their cool and scored a good try.

"We have got to go out and win the game next week and we believe we can go out and do that.

"What a statement from both sides. I thought it was a fantastic game. One team is going to be happy next week and one is going to be disappointed.

"We know what we have to do next Wednesday. We knew at the end of this game there would be a second half to be had and we are looking forward to the battle."

'Pretty tight'

Worcester rugby director Dean Ryan said: "It's half-time in the tie and it is pretty tight.

"It was a bold move for Bristol to go for home advantage and I think they wanted to put it on us in the first 40 minutes, so we knew we had to come out and really attack it and I thought the lads did a great job.

"In the second half, I thought we stood pretty firm. Bristol threw everything at us. We couldn't get field position and Henson's kicking was killing us, but we stood firm and saw it out.

"To finish like we did with a little bit of a show of defiance I thought was outstanding. We are effectively on level terms but we are at Sixways next week and let's see how the bodies fare over the next few days because that was full-on.

"It is going to be a straight shoot-out now, and whoever wins next Wednesday is in the Premiership."

Watch the second leg of the final live on Sky Sports 1 at 7.30pm on Wednesday May 27.