Shane Williams' 6 tries - British & Irish Lions Tour 2005

Shane Williams...Brilliant in a Lions team against a club in a midweek game.What nobody shows is how many games he has cost Wales and the Ospreys in allowing soft tries, because he CAN'T TACKLE.Go and look on some of the clips on Rugbydump, and see some of the grunt shown in speed, skill and sheer physicality from the Southern H wingers. Williams is not a patch on the likes of Umaga (while he was a winger), Cullen, Roccocoko, Caucaunibuko, Habana, Lomu, Tequiri, Mortlock etc etc.Williams in my opinion = most overrated winger in world rugbyMartin

I totally agree. He was playing an part time side when he scored all the tries. When he did get in to the Test side he was playing wingers with as much pace and skill as he undoubtedly has, but he got owned because he is so small. They were chucking him round like a rag doll.He is totally overrated.

yes we didnt see much off him the in world cup maybe because he couldnt keep up physically for the reasons above.getting five try's against a team that will allow a 95 point gap isnt really something go on about.but still... it sure is fun to watch!!!

he is a tad over rated but he does do well for a lil bloke, mind u it was funi wen rico gear snapped him in the lions series

Yeah I agree he is overrated but that doesn't mean to say he is a bad winger. Defence is an issue, but he has had an impact against big teams - New Zealand in 2003 anyone? I seem to remember him tearing them to shreds whenever he got the ball.Totally agree that wingers such as habana, rococoko, rougerie etc are far better players...but if your talking about him being overrated I'm surprised you have mentioned Tuqiri in comparison - the man has bags of talent but now has an arrogance to match, he hasn't preformed for several seasons.

haha.. i love this little guy

there is one even weaker tackler in international rugby...check out youtube vid named oi ronan...

Well he did score one of the tries of the last world cup. Sure he can't defend but he's still a joy to watch with a ball in hand. As the game becomes more about physicality its nice to see a small player use the sidestep to get around bigger players.Fair enough these tries were all against lesser teams but at an international level he has scored great tries against great defences.I'm Irish and I think there should've been more Welsh in that Lions side. We still would've got hammered but at east the test games would have been more exciting!The 3rd centre

Yes he is small and can be overpowered but he works his socks off and has improved his defence a lot. When who have somebody like him you have to use him. You say he has cost wales and the ospreys games but when? I can only remember him winning games for them

He is a fantastic player and certainly hasnt cost Wales defeats or the Ospreys. Yes he is tiny but then Robinson wasnt huge and he is touted as one of the greats. If ikkle Shane had been in and english shirt (God forgive such blasphemy)he would be a major star and media darling. Why do wingers have to be 6ft+ and 18 stone. Just appreciate his pace and footwork and enjoy.

Is it true his dad was a massive prop ? I remember reading that somewhere.

Martin you have clearly never watched the Ospreys play if you think Shane Williams loses them games, he scores nearly every week and his defence is actually surprisingly good considering his size. He wins matches not loses them, and to your comment about SH wingers being better....zzzzz

Shane Williams was one of the outstanding performers in the 2005 6 Nations campaign, trys against England, Italy and Scotland. He scored in his first start for Wales with a try against Italy in the 2000 Six Nations, and with 24 tries in 29 appearances, he has one of the best strike rates in world rugby.But I'm sure martin knows all this..

northern hemisphere rugby is a joke

Guy above - agreed.This is my favourate one How are the Kiwis reducing their carbon footprint?Theyre dropping the Aussies off on their way home.hehe

Eh Martin, you ever seen the clip when Shane jumps on Lotte's back and saves a certain try? Or the one when he skips passed him to score?He can't be overated when he has such a good scoring record. Also name a few games when he has cost the match. You are clearly talking through prejudice and ignorance. I'm English for god's sake and I can admit he is a damn got offensive winger. He is no frailer than Tait when it comes to tackling.Please come back when you have stopped talking with your arsehole.Daniel

Martin you can't spell to save your life.RokocokoCaucaunibucaTuqiriYou plebian soldier.

haha nice one mate but remember you got beaten by france in the world cup, and now all of your players are trying to score contracts in the guinness premiership. WAHEY ENGLAND ROCKS

Good player. Not great. Tackles as badly as another brilliant attacking player - Brent Russel.And yes, using Toquiri as an example is daft - he is slow as cancer and very lazy.To the oke critting NZ on the World Cup - "WAHEY ENGLAND ROCKS"???No mate, South Africa rocked your world!

Its not like south Africa over mate. We keep supporting our team even when they lose. I think the underachievers gave you a good fight in the final.Not a bad platform to start the next four years off.They truly did rock...

what the hell guys..., "little" Shane Williams cut NZ to shreds in their 2003 world cup match. i think he's a great little wingerwhat he lacks in defense (which isn't all that much) he makes up for in spades when it comes to attack

oh and Martin is talks out of his arse.

oh and Martin is talking out of his arse.

his defence is as good as any average winger in world rugby if u ask me and his attacking is extroadinary, possibly the best winger in the northen hemisphere, just look how many tries he's scored for wales ;)bob

for fuck saks nh player are grossly over rated and to my knowledge which is far vast to all you homo poms new zealand is the irb rated number one team in the world since 2003.as for shane williams he is useless over rated

Yeah and NZ lost to a NH team.Graham Henry took a team to Cardiff and they played like Wales. I used to love watching the ABS but the English style arrogance shown by supporters on sites like these has really turned me off them.

Williams is a serious winger who wins games for wales and ospreys (who i hate)!! Obviously when he screws up everyone see's it as he seems to make his hash ups obvious.. but these are not usually due to missed tackles but managing to get isolated!! Best winger in northern hem.. for sure

also whoever wrote the comment about poms.. shane williams is welsh not english!! idiot

WTF are you serious you can't put this on here he was playing against a 3rd division team who had only won 1 game that NPC season.

"as for shane williams he is useless over rated" "most overrated winger in world rugby" is it just me who sees all 5 ft 7 of shane williams win countless games for club and country with his world class finishing? 56 caps 41 tries, that seems pretty good to me, and would he really be first team if his defence was that bad?

Try Savers & Rib Breakers 5, 5 min 5 sec, bad defence? cost games?

"as for shane williams he is useless over rated"what a tit!Won Wales the slam (they'd have probably won the championship anyway)Why do retards like that bother coming on the site?

a bit confused as to whether the above comment was aimed at me, i was only quoting another comment by someone who clearly does not see shane play all too often, and i do believe he has won us the grand slam with the best finishing in the world atm.

if anyone can give me an example of when shane williams missed a tackle please saybecause the last time i saw him miss one was last yearshane is a legend and no other winger in the world can even compare to his form at the momentmaybe habana but thats just on world cup formShane had a supurb world cupeven better 2008 six nations and is the leading try scorer in the edf cup 2008so all those shane haters shut the hell up

what was the team for that game?

not even habana can compare to his finishing though, unbelievable side stepping

most overrated winger in world rugby? did you not see the 6nations?? player of the tournement....top try scorer of the tournement. best winger in the world right now. can't see anyone better to be honest....maybe vincent clerc.by the way, bryan habana is rubbish

not even vincent clerc, look at his tries from the 6 nations and you will see his team mates making these tries for him unlike shane who created his own tries

umm whoever said habana is rubbish please leaveshane is without a doubt the best in the northern hemisphereand i cant belive people think clerc is goodhes an average player

the habana remark is obviously from a one dimensional person that thinks a player is rubbish because he plays for a different teamfootball supporters do thatshane is also a legendcant wait for the lions tour!!!shane and strettle combo on the wings sounds interesting

Martin what you on about!Shanes like the best winger the northen hemisphere had ever seen.He gased tuquri in 2005 and tore NZ apart in 2003 in the World cup.So how can you say tuquri and rockococo are far better!

Shane's my hero! go go shane o!.Look i'm a Wales supporter and I can see that on his 2nd,3rd,4th and 5th try he trampled all over defenders and I noticed that he stamped on the Manawatu hooker's toe for the try that why he couldn't tackle him!

Shane's my hero! go go shane o!.Look i'm a Wales supporter and I can see that on his 2nd,3rd,4th and 5th try he trampled all over defenders and I noticed that he stamped on the Manawatu hooker's toe for the try that why he couldn't tackle him!

Hhahaha all those people at the top of the list who dubbed williams as the most overrated winger. Look at what season he's had this year. He and Habana are the form wingers in the world in my mind. What a talent and a true joy to watch on the pitch. Habana vs williams during the south africa tour is going to be amazing to watch as a rugby fan in general...Cymru am byth !

amen to that, two totally different wingers yet probably the most exciting

I wonder if all the ppl who were dissing shane have decided to spare themselves anymore embarrassment since he probably made the difference between Wales winning probably 3 games in total in this year's 6nations and Wales actually winning the Grand Slam.

shane is the best in the world and 2nd best in history (best is lomu but he is unstoppable) go steppin shane

shanes gotta good rugby brain he reads the game welland hes got skill and flairwat a playerstrettle and shane for the lions!!!!!!

Overrated?42 tries in 57 tests for Wales.You want all rugby players to be 6ft5 tall and 20st, go watch league.

overrated? cant defend? pffft you need to keep watching

Why is there this solidarity amongst SH fans? None of you can stand either of the other teams!

all of u sayin northern hemisphere rugby is a joke...how come all of ur star players are movin to clubs their example luke mcalister..Dan carter...Derick hougaard...butch james..Mauger and not to menstion litterally all the good fijian and somoan players!

haha ^ Anonymous above... there's a simple answer really, and you've kinda set yourself up for it... MONEY!!!!!! ;) Oh and Europe is a nice place... but MONEY!!! $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

The first two posters, you must fell stupid now.Anyway the whole team was ripped apart by the ABs on that tour, the forwards were torn to bits and never gave him any ball, how was he supposed to do well? So why does he get so much bashing over this tour compared to the other players who played.And he showed his abilities against a SH winger in South Africa. Habana no tries, Williams 2.

WTF Manawatu Turbo's were a 3rd division team at the time so the British & Irish Lions should have got a whole lot more than just over 100 points against them.I never use to like Shane Williams but now I have a certain respect for him now because he's only 5'7 going up against opposition wingers that are usually between 6-6'5 these days.

shane wlliams is the best winger and player in the world.

Haha look at his second try; The little guy does a Jonah Lomu!

Williams is very good but quite one-dimensional. He must be one of the best runners with the ball in the world, but that's usually all he does - run (admittedly very well). He isn't a particularly good kicker, his defence is quite poor (I know he's tiny, but so were Jason Robinson and George Gregan), and he can be a bit greedy with the ball. So, a very good winger, but not a great one.

All youu N.Hemisphere rugby goons dont know notjing about shane williams , watch some rbs six nations , and see how feared the other sidess are off him evenn thoo he's little as soon as he getss the ball something special happenes . Against S.A he was the same . Wait till the lions tour and you will see .

i have to disagree with you angry baggers, i've hardly ever seen him miss a tackle, alot of people just assume because of his height his defense is below par, not so!

Having just watched his immense 2008 sixnations performance, i totally disagree.His tackiling was pretty immaculte throughout, hauling down his opponents with ease despite his size, and rarely letting an oncoming attacker past.He also showed amazing flare and supreme skill in his moves and his runs, even against worldclass teams like England and France.And did anyone see him own Habanah on the 2008 southafrica tour?Williams for me, is probably one of the best wingers in the world.

Shane williams and david strettle are gonna rip the springboks apart on the lions tour....simple as that

Shane williams and david strettle are gonna rip the springboks apart on the lions tour....simple as that

look at 2.03. he drops the ball. good little player though....emphasis on the little

Lets hope he can return to that sort of form for this tour.

You cant compare the likes of Jason Robinson to Shane Williams. I mean yer, they can both sidestep the same but Jason was far more Stocky and didnt mind getting abit of mud on his shirt. I agree that Williams is the most over rated winger in world rugby. Real class wingers come inside more often looking for work. But to be honest, i am biased. ha ha

Torrin :)

u try playing well in any test side when everytime they get the ball they get jerry collins in the face. he is such a talented footballer.

Shane Williams is the best winger. Great scorer. And a pleasure for the eyes. Don't care if he's under rated or over rated. Simple

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.