Williams enjoying selection headaches

Matt Williams ended the most important week of his eight months in charge of Scotland with a headache – and that is just the way he wants it.

Victories last week over NSW Country by the development side and then Samoa in Friday’s Test proved to Williams, and to his doubters, that Scotland’s next generation are beginning to step forward.

Had Scotland followed on from the Queensland hammering with consecutive setbacks in Wollongong and Wellington, the future would look bleak as the development squad head into their final match of the tour, against the NSW Waratahs tomorrow.

As it is, things could hardly have gone any better – barring the serious injuries to Tom Philip and Chris Paterson – and Williams now faces exactly the dilemma he wanted to create on tour.

With the two Tests against Australia to come, 10 players must be cut from the squad after tomorrow’s match against the Waratahs but Williams and his assistant coach Todd Blackadder don’t yet know who.

“We are starting to get nice headaches,” he said.

“The three young second rowers (Craig Hamilton, Alastair Kellock and Scott MacLeod), have all been absolutely outstanding.

“Scott Murray and Stuart Grimes, who played particularly well against Samoa the other night, are looking over their shoulders at these young players coming through.

“But we can’t keep all of them. Someone has got to go home and how we split it is very hard.

“The same with the young centres. Graeme Morrison really struggled in that first game against Queensland but against Country he had a fine game. Marcus Di Rollo gets more time tomorrow night and his defence has improved out of sight.

“All of a sudden we have some nice issues, some hard decisions whereas at the beginning of the tour we didn’t have them.

“That is why the tour has been a great success. I have got to know the players, see how they respond, see how much improvement they have got in them. All that side has been really beneficial.”

It is make or break time for everyone involved at Aussie Stadium tomorrow, with fly-half Gordon Ross effectively on trial for a start in the Test team and the rest out to avoid the early flight home.

As if that is not motivation enough, Williams urged his development side to treat the game as a Test match and enforce last week’s hard work with a final flourish.

“They had the disappointment against Queensland – the first 40 minutes they were blown away. They recovered and played well against Country, who were not fully professional players, so this is a really important game for them. This is their Test match,” said Williams.

“I think the wins last week took huge pressure off the team. The pressure came off because they got some self belief and they saw what they were doing was working.

“It is very important that that is built upon. Last week was the first step - they can’t say ’we’ve done it and now we’re on holiday’. Tomorrow is very important for the next step.

“If they come out and have a great performance, the tour has been a great tour because all of a sudden we have developed six potential Test players. Maybe more.”

The focus in the build-up to the game has, understandably, been on Williams and his return to face the Waratahs, the franchise where his coaching career began.

The perceived wisdom in this part of the world was that Williams jumped before he was given the push by the Waratahs after an erratic season in 1999 saw them miss out on the Super 12 semi-finals.

“I have been at NSW for nine years and when I started I had blond hair, not grey hair,” he said at the time.

But this week, Williams has given a different insight into his departure, insisting it was not at all acrimonious and came at his own behest after the sudden death of his brother, Kim.

“I don’t have any animosity. I have a lot of respect for NSW. They gave me a shot at my career,” said Williams.

“Without them having faith in me, they brought me right through their system, I certainly wouldn’t have had the life and career I’ve had.

“People are funny sometimes – when you leave somewhere they think you want them to fail. I don’t.”

Except, perhaps, tomorrow when Scotland’s “development squad” have the chance to round off an improving tour on a winning note and make Williams head throb that bit more.