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Thu 24 Jan 2008 | 08:50
Shane Williams' 6 tries - British & Irish Lions Tour 2005

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Back in 2005, little Shane Williams had a fantastic Six Nations season as part of the Grand Slam winning Welsh team. Based on this form, Williams was subsequently included as a squad member on the British & Irish Lions tour of New Zealand.



The little Welshman scored five tries in a midweek game against Manawatu in Palmerston North, contributing the Lions' biggest tour victory in New Zealand to date, with the final score clocking in at 109-6.



Williams scored six tries on the tour in total, skinning Kiwis all over the place with his goose-stepping magic and flat-out pace.



It was a forgettable tour for the Lions when it came to the Tests against the All Blacks unfortunately. The hosts proved too strong in the big games. The mid-week matches against the smaller clubs however proved to be a great showcase of skill, speed, and Shane Williams at this best.



Posted By: Grant Constable

1 Comments

  • ryanshanks
    2:07 PM 06/12/2011

    That tour, much like the 2009 tour, was just all wrong for him, each for different reasons. in 05 woodward just stuck him out on the wing and basically said "mark sivivatu", whilst at the same time told the rest of the team "remember england in 03? yeah? well try and play like that". it was never going to work like that.

    shane roams. he goes looking fir the ball, and you often find him at first receiver more than most centres would. he thrives off a broken field, and too much structure simply squeezes him out of the game.

    And in 09, the team did the opposite - in times of creative depression they just thought "give it to shane - job done". never gonna happen, no matter who you are. he often suffers for trying too hard in games. he tries things that most would never dream of trying, and when it's not a natural option (which is a result of the pressure on him to do something purely alien every time he gets the ball) it not only doesn't come off, but more often than not has a negative effect.

    on both accounts, the attitude and adaptive capacity of the players and coaches around shane williams chopped down his chances to nil. so it shines a remarkable light on a player who can bounce back from that and score 5 wonderful tries, or two in the test series in 09. it also shows that he belongs nowhere but in wales. only in wales is a player like shane understood and encouraged appropriately. i'm not just talking about fast, or flair, or small players, but the daring do of shane williams combined with his romantic approach to rugby - putting the 'ball' in ballet - are uniquely welsh traits.

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