It’s hard to recall the exact moment when Shane Williams took the field.
The events took place close on a quarter-of-a-century ago, after all.
Perhaps it was after Swansea’s jet-propelled wing Simon Davies had flashed over for a hat-trick of tries.
It was midway through the second half, for sure, when the slight figure of Williams ran on in a loose-fitting jersey that looked a size or three too big for him. He appeared so small it almost seemed fair to ask if he’d arrived at the ground in instalments. Someone actually said it looked like the local paperboy had run onto the pitch.
Swansea were up against Amman United in the first round of the Welsh Cup and the tries came so thick and fast that a reporter recording one in his notebook had barely finished jotting down who delivered the scoring pass before the next one was run in.
When they finished counting there had been 16 touchdowns for the Whites and one for Division Five club Amman, with the visitors, who turned up at Cwmamman Park with a pack that featured Colin Charvis, Paul Moriarty, Andy Moore, Chris Anthony, Paul Arnold and James Griffiths, finishing as 100-7 winners.
Swansea were playing out their season of friendlies against clubs from England.
Afterwards at Cwmmaman Park, the then Whites coach John Plumtree had one word for the Welsh Rugby Union’s decision to insist they and fellow rebels Cardiff entered the cup at the earliest possible stage instead of in a later round as was customary for leading clubs in those days. “Pathetic,” declared Plumtree, who is now on the All Blacks coaching staff.
But driving home that late October evening, after an 80 minutes that had seen four seasons in one game, with cloud and showers followed by milky sunshine giving way to a late-afternoon drop in temperatures, it was hard not to think about the diminutive replacement who’d run on for the Amman.
In the throes of a move to Neath, Shane Williams hadn’t been included in the starting line-up but the locals were adamant he was worth looking out for: “Watch his sidestep if he gets on and watch how fast he is — he’s as quick as anything Swansea have,” enthused one before kick-off.
All concerned clearly felt they had something special here.
But as Swansea, with their squad of full-time professionals and a coach recruited from overseas, pretty much scored from anywhere and everywhere, it was easy to forget such talk.
Paul Arnold goes on a charge as Amman United flanker P. Hearne attempts a tackle.
Then there was an extraordinary, almost subliminal, moment, so quickly did it happen. Operating in the centre, Williams flew through the Whites defence, like some kind of surface-to-surface missile. To mix metaphors, this was David taking it to Goliath, albeit only for an instant.
From somewhere Amman had unearthed a player who could not only move rapidly but also had dancing feet. “Go on, Shane!” screamed one woman. “Show ’em what you can do.” By the time the Swansea cover had scrambled to haul Williams to ground inside their 22, he had made 35 metres.
What to make of it?
Language historians will tell you the first recorded use of WTF was in 1985 on a discussion system available on computers.
It’s not clear if the acronym was in widespread use in the Amman Valley when Swansea visited.
Whatever, Williams had come up with a genuine WTF moment — as in ‘what the flip’ just happened?
It was the first time the player who would be world rugby player of the year 10 years later had properly shown up on Welsh rugby’s radar in front of a wider audience of media and rugby followers.
The morning after the day before, a Welsh Premier Division team manager wanted to know if Williams had made any impression: “How did Shane Williams do? We’ve heard a lot of good things about him.”
Such is the way it works on Welsh rugby’s grapevine.
A move to Neath followed, with Williams on £130 a week with a car thrown in.
“The car was the biggest heap of junk I had ever seen,” he wrote in his autobiography, Shane: My Story. “It was a Fiesta, and it looked like it had been driven down an alley that was too narrow for it, with both sides scraped and caved in.
“But I didn’t care.
“I didn’t have another car at the time, and it would do for me. It was my first professional deal. Welcome to the big time.”
Those early days weren’t spent entirely on Easy Street. Facing Pontypridd at Sardis Road, Williams had his nose broken after being short-armed — accidentally — by Dale McIntosh. He wrote in his book: “When my head cleared, I thought: ‘I can’t do this. I can’t cope with all this.’”
There followed a Heineken Cup outing against Perpignan with Neath all but wiped out. The French scored in virtually the first minute and self doubts set in yet again, with the player who had been playing for the Amman just weeks before telling himself he was out of his depth.
He wasn’t. Indeed, he performed so well that Perpignan’s chairman approached him after the game wanting to sign him and offering Neath a £15,000 fee.
No move happened, of course.
Shane Williams playing scrum-half for Amman United as an 11 year-old against local side Trimsaran.
(Image: Pic: John Vince)
Shane Williams (centre) on Amman United’s pitch, aged 12
(Image: Pic: John Vince)
But Williams was up and running, with Wales capping him barely a year later.
Even Mozart had to put in the hours and Williams wouldn’t have achieved what he did without hard work. He filled out and developed the ability to spring clear of tackles as well as go around opponents or beat them for pace.
He became confident enough to roam the field looking where he could hurt opponents and do most damage for whichever team he was playing for. His creativity and ability to pull tries from the bag became a thing of wonder.
Countless opponents thought they could better him simply because they were bigger, but backing down wasn’t in the nature of the tough little kid from the Amman Valley, who often played against older opponents as a younger. He always had a go in defence.
And his attacking game set him apart.
There were a record 58 tries for Wales and two for the Lions in Tests. There was also no fall-off in his game, with Williams scoring two tries in his final match Ospreys, one arriving late to help beat Leinster in the 2012 PRO12 grand final.
Exactly 10 years ago, on December 3, 2011, he played his final game for Wales.
Shane Williams crosses the line to score his final try to the delight of Jamie Roberts and the Welsh crowd
There were tears and a Williams try with the final play of the match.
He’d travelled a long way since that October day in 1998 at Cwmamman Park.
He’s stayed true to himself along the way.
That’s what local heroes do.
“I’m glad my career coincided with his,” a fellow journalist once announced.
Plenty of others would feel the same way.
A decade on from his last game for Wales, Williams is worth toasting.
Well worth it, indeed.
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