Shane Williams: Let’s hear it for Howley’s gamble on young guns

I’ve said for a while that I would like to see a few new faces in the Wales squad for the forthcoming Six Nations, so I’m delighted that stand-in head coach Rob Howley has gambled with his selection, especially as I was not expecting it to happen.
Rob has rolled the dice with four or five young players and I’m so glad he’s done that. Wales have been stale for too long now and England, Ireland and Scotland have all moved on. We need to play with width and tempo and this is an exciting squad which will enable us to do just that.
Since I finished playing Wales have had a very settled squad and the team hasn’t changed that much. That can have a slightly negative impact with players feeling too comfortable.
But with this week’s announcement it means there are some exciting new caps we might see in the next few months and I can’t wait to watch them.
In guys like Ashton Hewitt and Steff Evans, Rob has the luxury of picking the form wingers in Wales, and that’s without mentioning Keelan Giles who misses out with injury.
I’ve been very impressed with Steff at the Scarlets, he seems to have improved out of sight and his attacking instinct is now matched by his defensive work. He gets himself in good positions on the field so it’s no surprise to me that he ends up scoring lots of tries.
Ashton Hewitt is another one. He’s got serious pace, great energy and he takes defenders on. That’s what we want in Wales and although he’s still got a lot to learn as a young player, his selection shows Rob is going the right way.
As for Keelan, he’ll be disappointed to miss out but Rob has done the right thing by looking after him. I know from experience how difficult hamstring injuries can be, especially when you do it for the first time. When that happens, you don’t want to be pushed to return too quickly and the most important thing for Keelan is he’ll know he would have been in the squad had he been fit.
That will give him confidence and he’ll be back soon enough.
Elsewhere in the backs I was excited to see Owen Williams get the nod. The way most teams are playing now is with a first and second receiver in midfield as they look to get on the outside of the 13 channel and attack in wide areas. England do this with George Ford and Owen Farrell and Australia have been doing it for a long time, too. It’s the way forward and I think Owen could help in that area as I’ve liked what he brings to the Leicester side.
He’s probably a straight swap for Gareth Anscombe, but in my view one man who is unlucky to miss out is Ashley Beck. He’s been excellent for the Ospreys, though what probably counts against him is that he only plays one position and Wales have a number of excellent centres already in Jamie Roberts, Scott Williams and Jonathan Davies.
Wales are in a period of transition right now with some youngsters taking over from the old guard, a new way of playing and a new captain in Alun-Wyn Jones. Whether some of these new players are involved in the matchday 23 remains to be seen but there is a chance Wales’ results may suffer as they get used to a new way of playing and integrating fresh faces into the squad.
It does take time for these young players to bed in and get used to the step-up in intensity to international rugby. But I still think it’s a fantastic move by Rob. It’s a risk and a gamble, but as a coach that’s sometimes when you get your biggest rewards.
Let’s hope that transition will be easy and Wales can stake a claim for the Six Nations crown.