Scott Williams has spent most of his six-year international career trying to make himself visible in the long shadows cast in the midfield by Jonathan Davies and Jamie Roberts. He emerged in the autumn as Wales blinked their way into international rugby’s new dawn in which might is only half right.
At 6ft and more than 15st, Williams is hardly diminutive but he has the handling and passing skills of a traditional Welsh inside-centre, as he showed against Italy last Sunday when he was involved in their first two tries, linking with the replacement fly-half Sam Davies and creating space outside him by straightening the line, drawing the defence and timing his pass.
It was the simplicity of the plays, defences unpicked rather than bulldozed, that was significant. Wales talked about evolving their approach in last year’s Six Nations and opening up their game, but intent was not matched by the requisite skill, often butchering two-man overlaps and seeming to pass into touch more than into hands.
A turning point was the home defeat to Australia last November when Williams played outside Roberts in the midfield. Since then, he has been the first choice at 12 in matches against tier one nations with Roberts relegated to the bench after 46 starts in the centre with Davies. At the age of 26 and armed with 42 caps, Williams has become a pivotal figure in Wales’s back division and if they are to end England’s 15-match winning run the player who scored the match-winning try at Twickenham in the 2012 Six Nations to win the Triple Crown – on the way to the Grand Slam – will need to be at his creative best.
“I have been unlucky to have two world-class centres in front of me for the last couple of years,” Williams says. “I hope I have kept them on their toes and brought out the best in them and they will do the same for me. Jamie will be the first one to congratulate me on starting and that means a lot. There is a difference being on the bench and starting, not least more responsibility. I am trying to take it in my stride and make the most of every opportunity. You never know when it is your last.”
Williams is quietly spoken and not one to waste words. He played down his contribution in Rome where Wales won 33‑7 after trailing at the interval, but he creates different problems for England in defence than Roberts, subtler and variegated, a throwback to the Welsh inside-centres of yore, when national coaches did not need skill sessions.
“Most of the damage in Italy was done before I received the ball,” he says. “Defenders were sucked in and we had the easy job of finishing it off. Perhaps that is being sarcastic: we are constantly working on being clinical and making sure we put the final pass in because that is what international rugby is all about, executing skills under pressure. It is the difference between winning and losing.
“We have changed our style a bit and it will take time. We showed glimpses in the autumn when we caused teams problems and it is good the wings are scoring tries. With the talent we have in the team, that is how it should be and I have been impressed with Alex King (the former England fly-half who joined as attack coach last month).”
Williams will be opposite Owen Farrell less than a month after the pair were on opposing sides in Llanelli when the Scarlets drew with Saracens in the European Champions Cup. Farrell was at fly-half and created the equalising try with his third break in as many minutes for Chris Ashton to score under the posts.
“He showed how good he was and used his experience at the end,” Williams says. “There are lessons to be learned from that day and playing for the full 80 minutes is one of them. I expect a very tight game again. England have shown themselves to be the best team in the world in the last 12 months and it is a massive week for us, one of the biggest games I have played in. We will need to play at our best to have any chance of winning.”
When Williams was injured during the 2015 World Cup victory over England at Twickenham, he used his time recuperating to set up a business building fabricated rally cars, specialising in early-model Escorts. “It is something I have been interested in as a kid and my brother-in-law is a rally driver,” he said. “I would like to do rallying competitively after I finish rugby.”
Which is unlikely to be for a while. Williams says people still stop him in the street to talk about the try he scored at Twickenham five years ago, after coming on as a replacement for Roberts at the start of the second-half to take his side to a 19-12 win. “I get reminded about that try all the time,” he said. “It is starting to wear off a little bit. I hope I can create some more memories this weekend.”
