The little wonder on the wings

WITH several equally-qualified contenders from within his own Grand Slam-winning side, some may contend that Shane Williams wasn’t the player of the Six Nations this season. However, he was certainly the most exciting.

With his dancing feet, his ability to explode with lightning pace off left or right, his willingness to take unusual lines of attack, the diminutive winger defied the ordinary, made many a memorable break, scored many a memorable try.

From an Irish perspective, however, it was a moment strictly from an age-old playbook that stands out; with the Irish defence apparently in good order, 22m from the try-line, Williams simply stiff-armed Andrew Trimble, stopped the much bigger Irishman dead in his tracks, then bolted in for the game’s deciding try.

Having already taken care of England and Scotland, that took care of the Triple Crown; France in the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff was the icing on the cake. Wales, Triple Crown winners and Grand Slam champions; even yet, as Shane and his Osprey team-mates (most of whom played with Wales during the Six Nations, 13 from the club side starting the first game against England) prepare themselves for several big tests ahead, it brings a smile.

“I didn’t expect it,” he candidly admits. “With the squad we’ve got, I certainly felt we were capable of things but I don’t think Grand Slam was ever in the back of our minds — it wasn’t that long ago we crashed out of the World Cup, ! so it’s been a hell of a turnaround.”

Wales weren’t even expected to finish highly in the Six Nations, some talk even of wooden spoon. That was before the appointment of Warren Gatland as coach, however, with Shaun Edwards as his principal assistant.

From the outside, even after winning against England in sterling comeback fashion, there would still not have been a whole lot thought of Shane and his team-mates in red; they were lucky, went the common expert reaction, they beat a poor England side that simply took its foot off the gas when in a winning position.

Inside the camp, however, that turnaround against the old enemy was the trigger for something bigger. “That’s where we started to play some good rugby,” says Shane, “we started to believe in ourselves. From then on, I felt we were good enough to win our remaining games; we got better as the tournament went on, finished off very strongly against France.”

Even in that match — in front of their magnificent support — Wales looked to be in trouble, under the cosh from an aggressive French side on a championship-winning mission of its own. Again, however, Wales came good when it most mattered.

That was then, already history in the fast-moving world of professional rugby; so, what’s its significance now? Well, as noted above, the bulk of that Europe-conquering Wales side came from the Ospreys (the first regional club side to win the Six Nations, one wag told me in Swansea last week); on Sunday, those same Ospreys take on Saracens in the quarter-final of the European Heineken Cup.

Having hammered Sarries a couple of weeks ago in the semi-final of the EDF Energy Cup, Ospreys will be fancied; when it comes to actually winning the Heineken Cup, however, they’re given little chance.

Why not? Look at their line-up, the likes of Lee Byrne, Gavin Henson, James Hook, All-Black Justin Marshall vying with Mike Phillips for the scrum-half role — and that’s just in the backs. In the pack you have the Jones boys, Duncan and Adam in the front row, Alun-Wyn at lock, Ryan at number eight, captain of both club and country, along with big-men Ian Gough, Ian Evans. Right through, from one to 15, there is potency, an ability to make things happen.

None is more potent, however, than the little man on the wing. And he is little, no point in saying otherwise. In person he doesn’t strike you as one of the most dangerous strikers in what has become a big-man’s game.

Look around at the modern winger with England, with France (Dominici apart), with the big three in the southern hemisphere, look at Ireland with Shane Horgan, and you’re talking about guys who, even a generation ago, would probably have been back-row forwards.

Shane Williams? Head and shoulders under them in stature. And it’s not just the size — it’s the demeanour.

There is an innocent, open boyish grin, no hint of someone who’s been buffeted around the place physically and emotionally for all of his rugby career. And he has been. “When I first came on the scene I got a lot of criticism about my size and for a while it did affect my rugby — every game I was getting criticised about being too small for the wing, all the wingers I was up against were far bigger than me, far stronger, but I’ve used that to my advantage.

“I was never going to be able to change my size — obviously I got as strong as I possibly could, without putting on too much fat. But all that criticism pushed me forward; people were questioning whether I was big enough for international rugby — I hope I’ve answered those criticisms.”

The temptation would have been there to change position, scrum-half being the most obvious. In fact when Phillips was sin-binned against Ireland, it was Williams who slotted in seamlessly at the base of scrum, ruck and maul.

“I actually played scrum-half in primary school so it wasn’t that new to me,” he grins.

“It’s very different to playing on the wing but it was something I was capable of doing. Having played on the wing now though for so many years, I’ve learned that position — and you do have to learn it — so I wouldn’t really like to go back to scrum-half, no. It’s a bit too hard for me now — too much running, too much work, you’ve probably got to be a lot fitter than I am! It’s a specialised position; you’re not just passing the ball, you’re bossing the forwards all the time also. You’ve got to be a specialist — the toughest position on the field, I’d say.”

Sometimes, however, even in rugby, and as Shane showed against Ireland, a good little ‘un can take a good big ‘un and turn him on his backside, can take that old maxim and turn it on its head. How? By working on the areas where he can improve.

“I was always pretty quick as a youngster but it’s something I’ve worked on so I’m probably quicker now than I’ve ever been. Not being very big, it was something I had to rely on, you don’t want to be caught by these big lads so you’ve got to be quick. And, you’ve got to be elusive as well, that’s very important.”

He’s a local boy, Shane Williams, from the heart of Ospreylia, now an official region based around the club. “I’m not far from Swansea (the Ospreys’ base), about half an hour from here — Glanamman (and he spells it out with all the pride of any GAA club man in Ireland), it’s where I’ve always lived. I’m kind of in the middle, between Neath and Swansea, the two main clubs from which the Ospreys were formed, so I’m in the catchment area.”

Watch these Ospreys; like Wales they’re underrated, but, like Wales, with flyers like Shane Williams on the wing, they can go all the way.