Williams' second best
Last updated: 21st March 2008
Shane Williams scored the tries, broke the records and quite rightly was given lots of praise.
But the man who underpinned the recent Welsh Grand Slam and the man who was here, there and everywhere on his way to becoming Six Nations man of the tournament, was the man who very nearly didn't play at all.
Shane's namesake Martyn quit international rugby after World Cup defeat to Fiji but the Cardiff Blues flanker is delighted now that new coach Warren Gatland left the door open for his return to the side.
Williams took some time out from celebrating a second Welsh Grand Slam in four years to tell the Rugby Club about his u-turn and how maybe that defeat to Fiji was a big moment in Welsh rugby history.
"Sealing the Grand Slam is a special memory and I will never forget that," Williams said. "I expected to be watching on TV or maybe out with friends but to actually be part of it is something I am grateful for.
"I am probably giving a secret away here but Rob Howley kind of took me off early in the week and asked me, 'has Warren rung you?' and I said 'no he hasn't'. And he just walked off, so I was kind of expecting it.
"Then Warren left a message and I called him back, we met for coffee and my mind was made up there and then. I said I would take a couple of days to think about it but I knew in my heart I still had the drive to play."
Did he ever? Williams was outstanding in the Six Nations and scored the try in the final game of the tournament, against France at the Millennium Stadium, that crowned his return to glory and the Welsh slam.
Williams was in inspired form through the competition and so the Rugby Club asked him what was the inspiration?
"A bit of unfinished business," he said. "It was a bit of a sour point to go out on, losing to Fiji in the group stages, and I knew potentially there was a lot more to come from this side.
"I would have been so frustrated watching this Six Nations, watching the success the boys have had. If I was there or not, they would definitely have been successful, without a doubt.
"It is not often you get a second chance and so I just feel so grateful to Warren."
But Gatland might not have been there had Wales not performed so poorly at the World Cup in France and Williams admitted that had the result gone the other way against Fiji, then maybe nothing would have changed in Wales and the Grand Slam might never have happened.
"Had we got to the quarters, lost to South Africa, then we could have gone on just being pretty mediocre. But it kind of gave us a kick up the backside and woke us all up, throughout the organisation.
"What we have achieved in a short space of time is down to the effort we have put in. There is no secret formula, no magic ingredient, it's just been sheer hard work."
And it helps when you have arguably the world's best openside flanker playing at the top of his game too.
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