His best league return came in his debut season of 2016-17, when he announced himself on the regional scene with seven touchdowns in 14 appearances. Two knee operations took their toll soon after, but now he looks better than ever.
Having scored twice in the narrow home defeat to the Lions, he then added two more in the bonus-point win against Glasgow Warriors. Both tries showcased his speed, eye for the try line and finishing skills and have rocketed him into third in this season’s URC try stakes behind Darcy Graham and Dan Sheehan, with five.
Keelan Giles showing superb hangtime to break the deadlock 🚀#BKTURC #URC | #OSPvGLA | @Ospreys pic.twitter.com/2BmfQGtpjD
— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) October 1, 2022
No wonder, then, that his coach at the Ospreys, Toby Booth was purring with pride at the contribution of a player who is still only 25.
“Keelan has been very good all year and we spent a long time putting him back together. Chris Towers and Simon Church, and their respective departments, should take a lot of credit for that,” said Booth after the 32-17 triumph against Glasgow.
“They built him up slowly and got him to go for 50, then 60 and now the full 80 minutes. It’s not just that he’s now able to play for 80 minutes, but he is having such impactful moments.
“He has always been talented, but his body has now caught back up and that’s great for him and for us. He has certainly got an eye for an opportunity.”
Keelan Giles is electric ⚡️#BKTURC #URC | #OSPvGLA | @Ospreys pic.twitter.com/PfKTtQySkC
— BKT United Rugby Championship (URC) (@URCOfficial) October 1, 2022
That was obvious from the way he took his two tries against Glasgow at the Swansea.Com Stadium. He went round his marker and then dived under two covering defenders for the first and then raced 60 metres in pursuit of a Rhys Webb kick for the second, literally snatching the ball out of the arms of the last man before crossing at the posts.
“On the back of our defeat to the Lions we talked about how we failed to win some key moments, whereas against Glasgow, Keelan had two quality moments that he took and they helped to decide the game for us,” added Booth.
“To hold a team that had put 50 points on Cardiff the previous week to a mere three points until injury time spoke volumes for how the coaches prepared the team. The players deserve huge credit as well for winning the little moments in the game and finding a way to win.
“They were very good, and it was a massive step in the right direction for us. Nothing gives you more confidence than winning and there was a lot to celebrate in that win.
“We will need to be very smart for our next game in Ulster. There will need to be changes and we will have to pick and choose, which is a very difficult balancing act.
“We saw a bit more steel in our game against Glasgow. The set piece was good and defensively we were good.”
