Shane looks to shine against Aussies

Shane Williams is gearing up for the performance of his life in Wales’ crunch World Cup clash with Australia this weekend.

The elusive Ospreys winger made his mark at the last World Cup with an electric display against New Zealand in Wales’ final pool match – but that was in a losing cause.

Four years on, Williams feels at the peak of his powers and is determined to inspire a rousing Welsh performance in front of a sold-out Millennium Stadium crowd.

A victory for Wales would almost certainly see them finish top of Pool B and book a quarter-final clash with struggling England rather than the dangerous South Africans.

It is the pivotal match of the pool and, after a disappointing performance against Canada last weekend, Williams knows it is a case of now or never for himself and for Wales.

“I want a big World Cup,” he said.

“I feel a much better player now than four years ago and I want to be able to show that on the field.

“I feel sharp on the field and I am really excited about playing rugby. I expect big things of myself and I feel really good at the moment. My results in tests have gone through the roof.

“I have hit 30 now and I seem to be getting quicker. I am like a fine wine I suppose! ”This World Cup has come at the right time. I do set myself big targets. I really do want a big World Cup for myself.“

Despite struggling for the first hour against Canada, Williams finished with two tries as Wales raced from 17-9 down to secure a bonus-point victory.

Williams is now third on Wales’ all-time try-scoring list and just two behind Ieuan Evans. That brings its own pressures – but he revels in the attention.

“There is more expectation on me now than there was four years ago. People now expect me to do something every time I get the ball,” he said.

“But these days I find that teams try to mark me out of the game, which is a compliment I suppose. If you can beat two lads rather than one that’s great.

“It seems to make people work a lot harder off me and hopefully I can create gaps for others. But it is a compliment when you hear an opposition player shout ’I’ve got Shane’ and another shouting ’I’ve got Shane’.

“They just want to come and smash me and stop me having the ball!

“Hopefully I will be a lot more involved this weekend. We didn’t play very well against Canada and it was difficult to get my hands on the ball.

“It was not for the lack of trying but it just didn’t seem to come my way.”

Wales have an excellent recent record against the Wallabies, having beaten them two years ago and drawn 29-29 last November.

Williams produced the winning try in 2005, just months after they completed the Grand Slam, and he has urged Wales to produce a repeat performance.

“They have a great back line which is one of the best in the world. It is a great opportunity for us to compete against players of that calibre,” said Williams.

“We have to be at our 2005 level to compete against Australia because they are one of the best sides in the world. But for us to be playing well as a back line, we have obviously got to be winning the ball up front as well and having momentum going forward.

“That was certainly the case in the Grand Slam season when everything seemed to go right for us. It made our job as backs that much easier and I think we are reaching that level again at the moment.

“We’re going to need that against Australia.”