Shane Williams: Outstanding Liam Williams deserves run at No.15
His performance last week at Judgement Day was outstanding and the display of a player full of confidence.
He showed great footwork, speed, skill, strength and vision against Newport Gwent Dragons.
He scored one try and created another out of nothing to turn that game on its head in the space of a few minutes.
It was an outstanding display but it wasn’t just last week that Williams was good. He has been in excellent form for the last two seasons and what I really like about him is his patience.
He has been on the fringes of the squad and then on the bench since the last World Cup. With Halfpenny, Alex Cuthbert and George North is such dominant form, Liam had to bide his time.
But what no-one can deny is that he always takes his chance to impress. Every time he gets an opportunity, he grabs it with both hands.
He found the transition from regional to international level pretty easy and makes a difference whenever he starts or comes off the bench. That’s the sign of a mentally strong player.
So Gatland simply has to find a place for Liam Williams in his starting team for the World Cup. The only question is where?
Until now, he has played on the wing because Gatland wanted him on the pitch and Alex Cuthbert’s form dropped. But Williams is clearly a much better full-back than a wing.
So that means shifting Leigh Halfpenny to the wing.
People may think moving such a class player is crazy, but I honestly believe the move would benefit Halfpenny, as well as Williams. It just makes sense.
Williams is strong and brave in defence and can kick.
Halfpenny has all those attributes but also has the real gas of a wing. After all, that’s where he began his career.
I’ve played on the opposite wing as Leigh for Wales and he is lightning-quick. He knows the job and has scored plenty of tries from that position.
He can still take the goal-kicks, that won’t change. But perhaps the biggest difference is that we will see Halfpenny as an attacking threat once again. That is something we have all badly missed.
Over the last 12 months, we just haven’t seen enough of Leigh with the ball in hand. He is a phenomenal goal-kicker but he first broke into the Wales squad on the back of his performances on the wing and his ability to beat players and score tries.
That ability hasn’t gone, it has just been forgotten.
On the wing, he would have more freedom to attack, so why not give it to him?
It wouldn’t even be much of a gamble when you have a safe pair of hands to take over the full-back duties in Liam.
Neither player can be left out right now. If I was picking the team, they would be the first two backs I would pick.
