Rhys Webb emerged from the long shadow cast by Mike Phillips to establish himself as Wales’s leading scrum-half last season and he intends to use the World Cup as a means to show he is the best around.
Webb, who was this week voted Wales’s player of the year, proved so successful in last November’s internationals in Cardiff and then in the Six Nations that the head coach, Warren Gatland, felt able last month to cut the 99-cap Phillips, five came with the Lions, from the World Cup squad.
“I knew I had last season in my locker,” said Webb. “Last year I had a good six-week break at the end of the previous campaign after a knee operation. I was able to have a proper pre-season and then a good run of games. I’m really enjoying my rugby. I’ve got ambitions and goals. You want to be the best player in the world but there’s a lot of hard work to achieve that and I will keep pushing and testing myself against the best nines in the world. The World Cup is the biggest stage to do it on.
“Aaron Smith [of New Zealand] is the best scrum-half around. He’s got a big All Blacks pack in front of him which makes life a lot easier. Imagine being behind that every week; you could do anything. But his game-management, awareness and skill-set as a scrum-half are pretty special. It’s good to see Will Genia [ of Australia] back because he was something special a couple of years ago. It’s going to be great to test myself against these guys.”
Even though Phillips had been culled from the squad two weeks before, Webb did not take his selection in the World Cup squad for granted. “I did not let it play on my mind and tried to get on with life the morning of the announcement,” he said. “I went out to walk the dogs and then went to my parents’ house.
“The squad was sent out to our phones in alphabetical order. I had a long wait to the Ws, but once I got past P I had a feeling I was in. It is an honour to be chosen in a World Cup and there were tears in my eyes: I was involved in some of the training before the 2011 tournament, but I was hit by injuries. I watched the semi-final at home and the boys went so close.
“Sometimes in Wales you feel there is a lot of pressure on your shoulders but you are doing something you love and work hard to achieve your best. Winning in Dublin last weekend showed how well we play away from home and I love that challenge, going where people think we do not have a chance and succeeding. We know if we get it right, we can go anywhere and win.”
