HE hasn't been seen on a rugby pitch for close on 20 months, but it seems Gavin Henson's dream of finally playing in a rugby World Cup is still alive.

On Sunday night the former Ospreys star clung on to his place on the celebrity TV show Strictly Come Dancing — 24 hours after Wales coach Warren Gatland had urged him to ditch the dancing shoes and put on those silver boots that once lit up Welsh rugby.

"We have had some key players that haven't been available in our backs with regards to Jamie Roberts, Leigh Halfpenny and Shane Williams, and if the guy who dances (Gavin Henson) starts playing rugby at some stage that will give us much more depth," said the New Zealander in the wake of Saturday's 37-25 defeat to the All Blacks.

The question is, after a winless autumn that has seen Wales appear to stagnate behind the scrum, does Gatland need the dancing feet of Henson to waltz back onto the Millennium Stadium stage?

With Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies poised to return to full fitness in December, the midfield cupboard doesn't seem as bare as many are making out.

Wales have missed Roberts's gainline-breaking ability during the series, while Davies — before his ankle problem — was the form player in the regional game.

There is also the Shane Williams X factor which can transform any side's attacking armoury — if the Osprey recovers fully from the shoulder dislocation he suffered against the Springboks.

Of course, rarely these days does any international side head into a major tournament with a full complement of resources at their disposal.

Between now and February 4, when Wales host England in the Six Nations Friday night opener, there are four rounds of Heineken Cup action as well as the bruising derby dates over the festive period. Injuries are inevitable.

What Henson does offer is options — at his preferred fly-half, at centre, and at full-back where Wales have struggled for back-up to Lee Byrne in recent years.

And it is probably at 10 or 15 that Gatland is considering Henson for that potential recall.

As for the player himself, speaking on a radio show yesterday, he clearly feels the door is open for a return.

"It's nice he's (Gatland) thinking about me. Hopefully that's the plan," he said.

"I'm feeling good. I'm not too far off the pace so before the end of the year I should be playing and hopefully get a couple of games in before the Six Nations.

"And I suppose the boys haven't done too well so I've probably got a good chance of getting back in there.

"I want to be in that Six Nations and I think we are due another Grand Slam now — 2005, 2008 and 2011, hopefully.

"It's always been in my diary to try to get back into the Six Nations, to do well and go on to the World Cup. I believe that's going to happen. I just hope I can do it now on the field."

It will have to take some startling displays for Saracens once Henson's Strictly days are over — and those appear numbered — to dislodge British Lion Stephen Jones as Wales's pivot.

But the name of Henson among Wales's replacements will offer Gatland an impact off the bench that he hasn't had in any of the big games this autumn.

Intriguingly, Saracens take on the Scarlets in an LV= Cup tie in Llanelli a week before Wales clash with the old enemy in Cardiff.

By then, Henson's World Cup dream should have become an awful lot clearer.