“Put a good big ’un up against a good small ’un, and the big ’un will always come off better,” goes the old adage used by many pundits and coaches in the game of rugby union.
That theory was dealt a blow on Sunday when pint-sized Welsh winger Shane Williams, often derided as being too small to make it in the professional game, beat off some illustrious competition to be named International Rugby Board (IRB) world player of the year.
“Our Shane is crowned world player of the year,” triumphed the Welsh daily newspaper the Western Mail on its front page.
PHOTO: AP
“It’s quite mad to be honest,” the 31-year-old Swansea-born Williams said. “It’s been a hell of a year and this has just capped it off really. It’s the biggest honor you can get as an individual in rugby and it’s totally overwhelming.”
“Just being nominated was humbling. And to receive the award from Bryan Habana, who is one of the best — if not the best — winger in the world means so much to me,” the 1.68m, 79kg Welshman said.
Williams’ progression on the rugby pitch has not been an easy ride. Six years ago, he mooted retiring from the game after a succession of hamstring injuries and admitting to having had a “guts full.”
He initially fell under the radar of then-Wales coach Steve Hansen, but worked his way back into the Kiwi’s plans.
“I was fed up and felt like quitting,” he said. “I wasn’t playing for Wales and I wasn’t happy.”
But having arrived at the 2003 World Cup as a third-choice scrum-half, Williams ended it as one of the stars of the tournament after starring in Wales’ epic 53-37 pool loss to New Zealand and the subsequent defeat by England in the quarter-final.
Williams, who was then picked for the ill-fated 2005 British and Lions tour to New Zealand, was a latecomer to professional rugby, signed by then-Neath coach Lyn Jones as a scrum-half from amateur west Wales club Amman United.
When the Welsh Rugby Union introduced regional teams, Williams followed Jones to the Ospreys, which helped prolong his burgeoning international career on the left wing.
Former Wales captain Ieuan Evans, also a winger in his day, said the IRB award “could not be more deserved,” adding that Williams had “sprinkled stardust on world rugby this year.”
“Shane was a massively influential figure in Wales’ second Grand Slam in four seasons but he not only entertained in the Six Nations, he has done it throughout the year,” Evans said.
“Williams lit up both [games against South Africa on summer tour] at Pretoria and Bloemfontein,” he said. “To score two sensational tries in successive games against the world champions in their own backyard left even the ardent Springbok follower gasp in admiration.”
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