It was an injury to Rhys Webb in Paris that opened the door for the very much in-form Cardiff Blues No 9 to make his international return. When he replaced Gareth Davies for the final 10 minutes at Parc Y Scarlets it completed a whirlwind week for the 30-year-old.
“It was a slightly unexpected call from the Welsh selectors, especially as I had seen both scrum halves walk off the field in Paris. It was a bit out of the blue – I was on my way to Cork at the time – but it was great to join up with the squad and everyone was very welcoming,” said Williams.
“I’d never given up hope of playing for Wales again. It was always was a goal of mine and will be as long as I am playing.
“Things at the Blues are going well and with Rhys (Webb) getting injured the door opened for me to come back in. It would be great to get a few more caps.”
Williams followed his father, Brynmor, into the Welsh team at scrum half and made his debut back in 2011. He can count two World Cup campaigns in his international career and played a huge role in one of the greatest Welsh tries of all-time, against England at Twickenham in the 2015 World Cup while playing on the wing!
Having played a small part in the final act of the 2020 Guinness Six Nations he is now looking forward to helping Wales make an impact in the Autumn Nations Cup. That kicks off next week with a trip to Dublin to face Ireland.
“There are a lot of boys I knew before who are still in the Welsh squad, but there are also a few new faces. Everyone is really positive and, on the whole, things are quite similar to when I was in the squad before,” he added.
“The boys were obviously despondent because we lost. On the flip side, it was quite special to be there seeing Alun Wyn [Jones] receive his little gift that the union had given him for reaching 149 caps.
“It was also nice to see a team-mate, Shane Lewis-Hughes, receiving his first cap. At the Blues we got off to a good start, which always helps, and things went well for me.
“That resulted in some decent performances. Now I’am just looking to improve on that and carry things on.”
