It is fair to say that Shane Williams knows a thing or two about being a successful rugby player.
The legendary Wales winger was part of two Grand Slam winning teams in the Six Nations and ended his international career as the country’s record try scorer.
He was also part of three World Cup squads and inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame, so is well-placed to comment on the sport.
Wales went into this year’s Six Nations tournament as defending champions, but a heavy defeat in Ireland put a major dent in their hopes of retaining the title.
They bounced back with a narrow 20-17 home victory over Scotland, and are still in with a shout of claiming top spot if they keep winning.
While many fans have been critical about Wales’ performances, Williams told Betway they should be realistic given the current strength of the competition.
“It’s how quick the tournament is upon you,” Williams said. “You’re playing against the best players in Europe, some of the best teams in the world, so if you switch off or your form dips at all, you get found out very, very quickly.
“The other thing with the Six Nations is if you pick up any niggles in training, or you’re injured, or if something isn’t quite right, in the blink of an eye, you’re two or three games in and the competition is over.
“It’s a fast and furious tournament and you know that any team could win it. There’s never an out-and-out favourite.”
While the current crop of players are struggling to live up to expectations, Williams admits things were a little different before his first Grand Slam success.
Wales lost three of their five outings in 2004 and were rated as outsiders by most bookmakers to come out on top the following year.
However, they claimed the Grand Slam in stunning style, racking up 151 points in five games on their way to a comprehensive clean sweep.
Things didn’t go to plan over the next couple of years, but Williams and his teammates made up for that by winning five-out-of-five in 2008.
Williams bagged nine tries during those successes and says winning the Grand Slam is one of his best achievements in professional rugby.
“In ’05, that Grand Slam came out of nowhere,” he added. “We weren’t expected to do particularly well in that Six Nations.
“We played tough rugby – we defended our hearts out. It was almost like a movie, winning that Six Nations, to be perfectly honest. That’s up there with the best of them.
“Then 2008 was a great Six Nations for me personally, because it was when I probably played my best rugby for Wales.
“We won the Grand Slam, I won player of the tournament and then went on to win IRB World Player of the Year. That was a huge Six Nations for me – I absolutely loved it.
“Both of those rank in the top, top rugby achievements, I’ve got to be honest. It doesn’t come around that often, so I’m very honoured to have done it twice.”
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