Monday, May 28, 2012
Shane Williams bows out on a high with decisive tries in PRO12 final
Shane Williams helped the Ospreys to a dramatic 31-30 win over European Champions Leinster in the RaboDirect PRO12 final in Dublin on Sunday. Williams scored twice, including a late try that was brilliantly converted by Dan Biggar.
Hanging up his boots at the age of 35, Williams has sensationally scored tries in all of his 'farewell' games. First it was against the Wallabies for Wales, then he did it a few weeks back in what was dubbed his farewell game, then yesterday he did it in his final game for the Ospreys.
Williams feels that after beating the Heineken Cup winners, Ospreys should now be regarded as one of the strongest sides in Europe. "We've shown that we can compete with the likes of Leinster.
"They are probably the best European side ever, really, up there with Toulouse and Munster. And we can come to the RDS and play a full-strength side and come away with a victory under pressure.
"That's the sign of a good team. I am very proud of the fact that I am associated with the Ospreys.
"We have worked very hard this season, we have had our ups and downs and there has been a lot of change in the ranks, with a lot of players leaving the region. For us to stick at it the way we have this season, it's a compliment to the guys.
"I'll never forget this day. It's up there with anything I've achieved in my career. To go out with a couple of tries in a final in your last game for the region means a huge amount."
Williams will play one mroe game on Saturday, for the Barbarians, against none other than Wales.
Below are his two tries and the winning conversion. The rest of the highlights will be posted soon.
Posted at 6:22 pm | 18 comments
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Viewing 18 comments
Ruggernut May 28, 2012 10:08 pm
WelshOsprey May 28, 2012 10:11 pm
That said, it was still a great game.. sad to see shane williams go though
Full Back May 29, 2012 12:13 pm
Going to be a tough year next year for the Ospreys, losing Williams and Bowe at the same time. Any young talents coming through to make it interesting?
WelshOsprey May 29, 2012 5:39 pm
IMO shane williams retired to early and still has a few more ospreys seasons left in him.
Dave May 28, 2012 10:19 pm
I thought we'd done enough to win it with 10 minutes to go, but our defence simply wasn't good enough. We can blame Poite all we want, and he had a terrible game - especially the sin-binning of White, but it was Leinster that lost the game, not the ref. You can't give a player like Williams space, nor can you play for 20 minutes with 14 player against a team of the Ospreys quality. Leinster are the better side, but this one was deservedly an Ospreys win. Well done to them, and I'm sure all at Leinster looking forward to having ye over again next season! :-)
mise May 28, 2012 10:28 pm
Well impressed with the new Osprey's thou, post-galacticos. More Welsh qualified players than Leinster had Irish qualified (and that's sayin something!). Good balance in the team, great future ahead of them.
stroudos May 28, 2012 10:36 pm
BTW, great kick under pressure at the end by Kevin Bacon.
James May 29, 2012 9:11 am
MisterDavid May 29, 2012 9:52 am
Tanqueray May 29, 2012 12:02 pm
On a purile comedy note, anyone else catch the Commentator around 2.41 stating that this will be Dan Biggar's biggest pr*ck of his career...?!
Curates_Egg May 29, 2012 1:26 pm
As a Leinster fan, am gutted we lost in the final again. We really should've closed it out. However, Poite really took the enjoyment out of this game. Ospreys were quite possibly worth the win anyway but Leinster should not have had to play the final 8 minutes with 14 men. The sooner the IRB deals with the scrummaging rules (and incompetent refs), the better.
Colombes May 29, 2012 7:37 pm
Also glad to watch Williams zigzaging through the defences for a last goodbye
i don't really know the level of implication of boh teams in this Rabobank league, but i think leinster just discovered here what was the feeling to play 2 big matchs in the same 7 days (hcup and league) as french and english ones are used to
irishrugby2k12 June 01, 2012 3:48 pm
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