Shane Williams

[tigerland12]

Wales great Shane Williams has confirmed he will retire from international rugby after the Test against Australia at the Millennium Stadium in December

Speculation had been circling the 34-year-old winger, who has 86 caps to his name, would call it a day following Wales' impressive display at the Rugby World Cup.

But Williams confirmed he was keen on saying goodbye in front of the Wales fans.

"I've decided I am going to make myself available for this game. If selected, I want to play," he told website walesonline.co.uk.

"If I am picked I will treat it in the same way I have always treated Wales games, but it will be a sad day for me. In fact, I'll be devastated.

"But to bow out in front of Welsh fans and my family and friends would be like a dream."

Williams will continue to play for his club Ospreys after calling an end to his international career.

"I always said I would know in myself when the time came to stop playing for Wales and that time is very nearly upon me," he said.

"After this last game in December, that's definitely it for me, there'll be no changing my mind."

Williams is a former IRB world player of the year and his country's record try-scorer.

December's game will be a rematch of the third-place play-off at the World Cup in New Zealand, which Australia won

In my opinion one of the greatest wingers the world has seen, if not the best since Lomu. One of my personal favourite players, who showed he still had plenty to give at the WC.

Thanks Shane.

 

[Schadenfreude]

Can you be a great winger if you're crap at defence?

 

[#1 Tah]

Can you be a great winger if you're crap at defence?

Campo.

 

[light]

Can you be a great winger if you're crap at defence?

Really unnecessary. I've loved watching Shane Williams play and I think this kind of trolling is not needed, he didn't win world player of the year for nothing. When in-form, I rate him higher than most modern day wingers and at his prime I think he was probably the best since Lomu.

 

[Schadenfreude]

No I'm not trolling. And I think the person most advocating that campo was great - is campo.

I've seen some pretty good attack from Williams - but his defense is poor.

 

[Slim 293]

Eh, despite his personality, if you can't acknowledge that Campo was a rugby great then I don't know what to say...

The guy was the friggin' player of the '91 World Cup...

And Shane Williams was a little pocket rocket... certainly a modern great...

 

[pete88]

I think the defence comment is kind of fair, he's been shown up regularly by JOC (James O'Connor), who is good but makeshift, and he didn't really deserve that IRB Player of the Year gong.

That said, him and Jason Robinson would be the first two outside back picks in any "best NH team I've ever seen" XV, his footwork was electric and like most little blokes he was very easy to underestimate strength-wise.

And we are going to be playing an incredibly pumped Welsh team next month. Bugger, our boys are ready for it...

 

[Jay]

There's been loads of great wingers who weren't exactly great defenders. Campese, Lomu, Kirwan - none of them were exactly great on defence.

I thought that Williams was pretty much figured out on the 2005 Lions tour (although he scored something like 6 tries in a midweek match) when he got pretty much nullified by the AB's, but he came back very well and has had some great moments since.

I was at that 2003 pool game at Stadium Australia and he was dancing rings round the AB's that day.

 

[Schadenfreude]

No doubt campo had moments of genius. But he had a massive number of fuckups to match.

Best tackle I've seen campo make was where he fell over in front of someone and they tripped over him.

Rugby is as much about defense as it is about attack.

If you want players who can only do one thing, you can watch NFL. If you want me to call you great - you've got to play the whole game.

 

[MajorlyRagerly]

Really unnecessary. I've loved watching Shane Williams play and I think this kind of trolling is not needed, he didn't win world player of the year for nothing. When in-form, I rate him higher than most modern day wingers and at his prime I think he was probably the best since Lomu.

I have nothing but the upmost respect for the fella, but he had so many deficiences (pretty much so all due to his size) that it's hard to take alot of the praise heaped on him seriously. The guy had some brilliant games, but he also had so many games where he was just chucked around like a rag doll.

I'll say this - pound for pound, probably the best winger of the last 10 years. But he would be a fair way down my list of best wingers of the last 15 years.

 

[cyclopath]

No doubt campo had moments of genius. But he had a massive number of fuckups to match.

Best tackle I've seen campo make was where he fell over in front of someone and they tripped over him.

Rugby is as much about defense as it is about attack.

If you want players who can only do one thing, you can watch NFL. If you want me to call you great - you've got to play the whole game.

What a load of rubbish. The role of wingers has changed a lot - indeed the defensive structures have changed massively in the past 10-15 yrs. Notwithstanding that, Campo was one of the best. His defense was suspect, but he made a lot of tackles when he had to as well. And his attacking attributes more than made up for it. In today's game, he would have been forced to be better at it, but when he played it was less of an issue. And at his attacking best, he was sublime.

 

[Jay]

What a load of rubbish. The role of wingers has changed a lot - indeed the defensive structures have changed massively in the past 10-15 yrs. Notwithstanding that, Campo was one of the best. His defense was suspect, but he made a lot of tackles when he had to as well. And his attacking attributes more than made up for it. In today's game, he would have been forced to be better at it, but when he played it was less of an issue. And at his attacking best, he was sublime.

Yeah, the main guys he marked up against for the AB's over his career were Stu Wilson and JK and neither of them were known for their defence.

 

[Antony]

I was at that 2003 pool game at Stadium Australia and he was dancing rings round the AB's that day.

He was incredible that day - Shane Williams was burned into my psyche.

I disagree with this "to be great you have to be good at everything" logic. I think greatness is about being able to dominate games with some degree of regularity.

Lomu couldn't defend. Pocock never hits it up. Gregan had a loopy pass. Larkham couldn't kick goals. Wilkinson couldn't run. Matfield is less effective at the ruck than others, and Sean Fitzpatrick was a penalty-magnet. But any time you looked down the team sheets and saw one of those guys playing against your side, you felt just a little bit shithouse. That's enough for greatness for me, and Shane Williams was one of them.

 

[Schadenfreude]

I'm pretty sure there's a thread on this forum with many people saying Quade Cooper will never be a great player because his defense isn't good enough.

The same standards don't apply to wingers?

If Williams was ever a better player than Digby Ioane is now - I'll eat my own hair.

 

[Slim 293]

Would you like sauce with that?

 

[Swat]

I've always enjoyed watching little guys go toe to toe with bigger guys. Watching Williams sidestep at speed was a thing to marvel at and he'll be remembered fondly as a great of welsh rugby and an asset to the game.

As a side note: all this talk of defensive deficiencies reminds me of the old saying 'wingers only score lots of tries because they're being marked by wingers'

 

[Antony]

If Williams was ever a better player than Digby Ioane is now - I'll eat my own hair.

I'll probably accept that.

Out of interest, who would you classify as having a 'complete game' among modern-ish wingers? The only ones I can think of are converted fullbacks, or at least multi-position outside-backs (like Roff or Howlett). But then you get in the uncomfortable situation of saying that maybe Cory Jane is 'great', while Joe Rockets circa-2003 wasn't. And I know who I'd rather be marking.

(That is: I'd be fucked if I was marking either.)

 

[light]

I liked Roff, but if I had to choose a winger for my dream team it would be Ben Tune or Jonah Lomu. Positions are regularly evolving and I think if you try to find the ideal modern-winger Jane would fit the mould, just not mentally there yet.

 

[Gnostic]

I also remember him stepping Bunce and Little, were they poor defenders? In '88 Dwyer credited Campo with the win over England at Twickenham saying he carried the team and also said in the same statement how often can you say that about a back.

Your facts are also wrong as Campo played one season against S Wilson then against, JK, followed by (not in order) J Wilson, J.Timu, V. Tuigamala, Lomu and a couple of ohters I can't remember now just from the ABs. Add in the test wingers from other nations like Underwood, Hastings, Iuean Evans, S. Geoghan, Small and more than 10 years worth of others. Were they all bad defenders? 64 Test tries is worthy of great respect without even going to the vast number he set up for others which include some of the most spectacular tries even seen. In more than 30 years of watching Rugby I have never seen a player who has been able to bring the crowd to their feet like Campo did, supporters from both sides would applaud his skills and he was always gracious afterward. If you doubt this watch the 1991 game V Ireland and the home crowd his first half try were he cut the mid field apart and stepped Simon Geoghan cold. Opinionated Campo was and is (like the rest of us here - it comes from being passionate about the game we love), conceited he never was.

Williams strike rate in scoring test tries ranks him up their with Campo and very few others IMO, to deny it or worse try to belittle it is just churlish IMO.

Well done to Williams, a wonderful player and IMO Wales is poorer without him, but I cannot begrudge him going out on top.

 

[qwerty51]

Pocock never hits it up.

What? He's like our main ball carrier these days..