Williams raring to go as Wales face tough opener against England

SHANE WILLIAMS has declared himself fit and raring to go for his probable swansong year as an international rugby player. Ospreys star Williams is poised to win his 76th cap when Wales launch their RBS 6 Nations campaign against England in Cardiff on February 4.

And for the 33-year-old wing, who has scored a Wales record 51 Test tries, it will be testament to some rapid powers of recovery.

Williams looked likely to miss the early part of Wales’ Six Nations season when he suffered a dislocated shoulder during their defeat against world champions South Africa in November.

But a brilliant 20-minute cameo for the Ospreys as they beat Heineken Cup opponents Toulon two days ago confirmed Williams’ fitness – three weeks ahead of schedule.

And if, as expected, he does exit the Test arena following this year’s World Cup in New Zealand, Williams intends going with all guns blazing.

He said: “I feel just as sharp as I was before the injury – I have no issues. I am very happy with where I am, and very confident in my ability. I just want to play, and I am glad I had the 20 minutes against Toulon.

“As far as I am concerned, it probably is my last year of international rugby, so I need to make sure I can be as quick as I possibly can be and keep up with these young guys coming through”.

Newport Gwent Dragons back-row forward Toby Faletau, meanwhile, has withdrawn from Wales’ Six Nations squad due to injury. The uncapped 20-year-old suffered ankle ligament damage during the Dragons’ Heineken Cup defeat against Glasgow last Sunday, and he has been replaced by Scarlets flanker Rob McCusker.

McCusker has won three caps, appearing as a substitute against South Africa at the Millennium Stadium last summer, before featuring off the bench in both Tests against New Zealand, also last June.

McCusker is more of a like-for-like replacement for Faletau than 98 times-capped Cardiff Blues openside Martyn Williams, who was the shock omission from Gatland’s 28-man Six Nations squad.

Alastair Kellock will aim to lead by example as Scotland enter the RBS 6 Nations opener with France seeking to end a 12-year wait for victory in Paris. The Glasgow Warriors second row was yesterday confirmed as skipper for the February 5 championship opener as Scotland take on the Grand Slam champions, aiming for a first win in Paris since 1999.

Kellock received a call from head coach Andy Robinson midway through last week to ask him to step into the leadership role he held during Scotland’s 2-0 Test series win in Argentina last summer.

The 29-year-old Glasgow skipper, who missed the autumn Tests following knee surgery, had to keep the captaincy quiet until the squad met up in St Andrews, when Robinson announced the news on the opening day of the pre-Six Nations training camp.

Kellock said: “I was delighted, absolutely delighted to be in the squad and to be asked to be captain is a huge honour. A lot of the guys came up and said ‘well done’. We were straight out to training so there wasn’t too much time to dwell on it. I am very pleased. I had the opportunity to do it in Argentina a couple of times and it was brilliant. To be able to do it in a Six Nations game will be a massive honour.”