NEWS ROUND-UP:SHANE WILLIAMS has declared himself fit and raring to go for his probable swansong year as an international rugby player. Ospreys star Williams is poised to win his 76th cap when Wales launch their Six Nations campaign against England in Cardiff on February 4th.
And for the 33-year-old wing, who has scored a Wales record 51 Test tries, it will be testament to some rapid powers of recovery.
Williams looked likely to miss the early part of Wales’ Six Nations season when he suffered a dislocated shoulder during their defeat against world champions South Africa in November. But a brilliant 20-minute cameo for the Ospreys as they beat Heineken Cup opponents Toulon two days ago confirmed Williams’s fitness – three weeks ahead of schedule.
And if, as expected, he does exit the Test arena following this year’s World Cup in New Zealand, Williams intends going with all guns blazing. He said: “I feel just as sharp as I was before the injury – I have no issues. I am very happy with where I am, and very confident in my ability.
“I just want to play, and I am glad I had the 20 minutes against Toulon. As far as I am concerned, it probably is my last year of international rugby, so I need to make sure I can be as quick as I possibly can be and keep up with these young guys coming through.
“I want to make sure I’m doing things right, which means I have got to work harder to ensure I maintain those high standards for myself, and hopefully I can go out on a high.
“I wanted to get fit and be in the Six Nations squad. I could have been missing the first two games of this Six Nations, or I could have been missing it all, so I have worked hard to get where I am now. I’m determined to be involved in these Six Nations games and have a good tournament, both personally and as a team.
“Against Toulon, I nearly went on at half-time. I was like a 10-year-old schoolkid – I had a strop when I couldn’t go on – and I really enjoyed myself when I got out there with 20 minutes left.”
Newport Gwent Dragons backrow Toby Faletau, meanwhile, has withdrawn from Wales’ Six Nations squad due to injury. The uncapped 20-year-old suf- fered ankle ligament damage during the Dragons’ Heineken Cup defeat against Glasgow last Sunday, and he has been replaced by Scarlets flanker Rob McCusker.
McCusker won has three caps, appearing as a substitute against South Africa at the Millennium Stadium last summer, before featuring off the bench in both Tests against New Zealand, also last June. McCusker is more of a like-for-like replacement for Faletau than 98-times capped Cardiff openside Martyn Williams, who was the shock omission from Gatland’s Six Nations squad.
London Irish prop Faan Rautenbach has been cited for allegedly stamping on the head and shoulder of Munster flanker David Wallace.
Rautenbach was yellow-carded following the incident during their Heineken Cup clash in Limerick last Saturday. But citing commissioner Francois Guers has now made a complaint against Rautenbach, with the case to be heard on Thursday.
The 34-year-old could face a ban of between a fortnight and 52 weeks.
Toulouse centre Florian Fritz will appear before the same disciplinary panel tomorrow after being sent off in Sunday’s 21-16 defeat by Wasps. Fritz was shown a red card for his spear tackle on Tom Varndell and later became the subject of a misconduct complaint. The France international is alleged to have made an offensive hand gesture in the direction of spectators as he was walked from the pitch.
Leicester yesterday persuaded their Italian international tight-head prop Martin Castrogiovanni to ignore considerable offers from French clubs to stay.
“A player has to think about of lot of things when he is trying to decide on the future, and money is not everything,” said Castrogiovanni.
