Shane Williams: Winning the Grand Slam was one of my highest achievements

What else is there to say about Shane Williams. Having achieved more than most in the rugby world, Shane has undoubtedly left his mark upon the sport.

On the level of individual, being his country’s record try scorer, and the team level, winning the Grand Slam in 2005 & 2008, Shane is forever established as one of the all-time greats of world rugby – his name echoing down to future generations despite retiring at the end of the 2014-15 season.

“Winning the Grand Slam is one of my highest achievements” Shane said in an interview with the Betway Insider.

“In ’05, that Grand Slam came out of nowhere. 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.”

Winning the Grand Slam is a major achievement. “It’s extremely hard to win the Grand Slam,” says Williams. “As people who watch the Six Nations know well, it’s such a short turnaround, it’s only five games, you’re only playing five different teams. Surely it’s not difficult to win every game? I can assure you it is.

“You’ve really got to be on top of your game for the full tournament. The level of competition is so tight. One mistake in any international match and you lose the match, and then obviously your chance at a Grand Slam is over.

“You’re playing against some of the best teams in the world, some of the best players in the world. You’ve got to have a bit of luck along the way, you’ve got to make sure you don’t get any injuries, your discipline has to be on point.”

With France as the only team who can get a Grand Slam in this year’s tournament, it will be interesting to see if the Du Pont-led team can clinch the fabled clean sweep!