FLASHBACK

2008 REVIEW

The mesmerising quick feet of winger Shane Williams provided the inspiration for a Welsh Grand Slam in the 2008 Six Nations. The wing wizard proved that size

doesn’t necessarily matter in modern day rugby as he
danced to six tries – taking his tally in a Welsh shirt to 41 and overtaking Gareth Thomas as the leading scorer for his country. Together with a new-found soldity in defence – under the guidance of new assistant coach Shuan Edwards – his team conceded just two tries in the whole competition.

In retrospect the turning point of the whole season came at half-time of the first match when Wales visited England at Twickenham where they hadn’t won since 1988. Warren Gatland’s men were behind as the home forwards bossed the game but he urged them to go back out and just enjoy themselves and play some rugby. England suffered a couple of unfortunate injuries and before anybody knew it, tries �

The brilliance of Shane Williams inspired Wales to a thrilling, if slightly unexpected, Grand Slam in 2008

WELSH WIZARDS

CLASSIC SPORTS SERIES / 123