England rugby star humiliated by Gavin Henson left UK and now runs major world event

It is one of the most famous tackles in Welsh rugby history.

Gavin Henson's huge hit on England teenager Mathew Tait during Wales' 11-9 victory over England in Cardiff in 2005 has gone down in Six Nations folklore.

Tait was just 18 when he made his England debut at the Millennium Stadium, and his introduction to Test rugby could hardly have been more brutal.

Henson smashed into him twice during the match, while also landing a long-range penalty which ultimately gave Wales victory on the opening weekend of the Championship.

For many watching that afternoon, it felt as though they had witnessed the end of Tait's international career before it had even begun.

Tait would go on to win 38 England caps, play in the 2007 Rugby World Cup final and enjoy a 15-year professional career with Newcastle, Sale and Leicester.

And today, more than two decades after that unforgettable afternoon in Cardiff, he is living a very different life.

Tait is now based in Dubai, where he is the general manager and festival director of the Emirates Dubai 7s.

He moved to the United Arab Emirates in November 2022 after spending a couple of years working for financial services company Oakwell Sports Advisory.

His current job involves developing commercial and strategic opportunities around the Dubai 7s and The Sevens Stadium, as well as overseeing logistics, marketing, social media, teams and the event calendar.

But that infamous afternoon in Cardiff has never completely gone away.

In March 2025, 20 years after his England debut, Tait watched Wales against England from his home in Dubai.

He had been approached to talk about the anniversary of the match, including requests to be interviewed alongside Henson.

"I had requests for interviews, some with Gavin Henson, but said no as there was nothing new to say after all this time," Tait said.

The fact that Tait was still being asked to discuss the tackle two decades later underlines just how enduring the image has become.

Henson, meanwhile, has previously given a detailed account of what was going through his mind during the match.

Writing in his autobiography, Henson insisted the tackle was not designed to embarrass Tait because he was an 18-year-old making his international debut.

"It had nothing to do with the fact that he was 18 and making his debut," Henson wrote. "It was just that he was running straight at me and I was the one who had to stop him.

"I like the aggressive side of the game and those tackles give you the chance to get right in someone’s face," he wrote. "I must admit I enjoyed that one on Mathew."

Henson also revealed that Wales had specifically done their homework on Tait before the match.

The teenage Newcastle centre had been heavily tipped for the future, and Henson had seen him score a try against Sale in which he had beaten Jason Robinson.

"So we did our homework on him and it paid off," Henson wrote.

The second tackle became arguably the most iconic image of the match, with Henson getting underneath Tait and carrying him off the ground before bringing him down.

Yet Tait's story was only just beginning.

And perhaps fittingly, it was sevens which played an important role in helping him recover from a difficult introduction to Test rugby.

Speaking to HSBC SVNS in 2023, Tait admitted that his Test debut against Wales "hadn't gone as planned" and said sevens helped him "fall back in love with the game a little bit".

"It played to all my strengths, like running fast," Tait said.

He went on to enjoy an outstanding Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006, scoring 11 tries and finishing as the tournament's top try-scorer as England reached the final.

They eventually lost 29-21 to New Zealand, but for Tait it represented a major turning point.

He described the five or six weeks around the Commonwealth Games as the "fondest time" of his professional career and said sevens helped him "get back on the horse".

Tait eventually established himself as a regular England player and was part of the side which reached the 2007 World Cup final in France.

His career eventually came to an end in February 2019, but his connection with sevens has continued in a very different capacity.

Now he is responsible for delivering one of the biggest rugby events in the world, which will attract nearly 100,000 fans when held in November.

Tait has no plans to return to the pitch, admitting that he has far too much to do in his current role.

Instead, he spends much of his time working with the teams and organising an event which takes almost an entire year to deliver and has seen music stars such as Tinie Tempah, Sean Paul and Sugababes perform in recent years, alongside the sporting competition.

"These types of events take around 11 to 12 months to deliver," he said. "So it's full-on until the last note has played on the final day."