Episode 12 Scrum V

We have all the action the boss al -- we have all action, and a bottle

the Blues ball for a result of the weekend. We catch up with their

eight man of the match who is not afraid to break down the law.

you the kind of player who is not sure I've of telling players what

to do even though they are 10 years older than you? A I do not know

about that. Liam Williams cheers on Welcome to the first how light show

of 2013. He is Jonathan Davis and joins me. We will start with the

match against Munster and the Cardiff Blues. The Jamie Roberts

returned, making his first appearance since Wales lost to

Australia. Ronan O'Gara is now blows. Rhys Patchell could get a

try here if he can control the ball. credit this season already. -- 49

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points macro to his credit this very quick on his feet. -- cult

planned is very quick on his feet. The given their recent run, there

was a fantastic. In it was an amazing result. I do not think

anyone expected it. Great defensive performance. It was a great, great

result for Cardiff. The they did seem under the Pompeii in that

first half. -- under the pump. There is a definite recipe for

winning against Munster. They are far better organised. It's Jamie

There are working in tandem here. It takes a lot of doing. Sam

Warburton was back to his aggressive self-. He made a their

tackle there. -- He made a low The green shoots of recovery.

Should we be circumspect? Or it was a great, great performance. It was

a great finish. There is a lot of talent in Wales. Munster going to

natural. -- too lateral. The that was their downfall, to be honest.

They have to go slowly but still get results. Rhys Patchell shone.

18 months ago, he was doing his A- levels. He is been told it was one

of the contenders to replace Rhys Priestland in the Six Nations. He

is keen to play the hype down. in a fly-half in Wales is tough.

Know the position had tracks so much attention and scrutiny. Rhys

Patchell seems to have the maturity to cope, and he is under no

illusions about the challenges ahead. It has been a swift rise.

You have gone from virtually unrecognisable in the space of one

season. You now seem to be first choice. I'd do not know about that.

In terms of how quickly it has happened, it has been surprising.

It must have been daunting. It was a bit daunting going to training on

day one. in terms of the way you won again, you are fly-half and you

have to boss players around. I you shy about telling players what to

do even though they may be 10 years older than you? You have to tell

everyone this is what we want, and this is how the game is going to go.

People have to be in certain positions. You just have to put

your thumbs up and go through with it. You have any heroes, players

you look up to own? Jonny Wilkinson. Stephen Larkham. The there's a few

new look at and think, if I can take that from him, that would be

good. Every Thursday night, Rhys Patchell turns up at his old club

in Cardiff to help with coaching There's a lot of speculation about

who will be the next fly-half with Christian being injured and your

name has been mentioned frequently. -- with that your -- with

Priestland being injured. How colder are you with that? It is

really humbling that people are saying potentially you could do

this, but as I said, I am 19 and if it happens in the next few years

than that is great but at the moment, you know, I am up there

every week for the Blues and that Very intelligent, bright lad. It is

important to play the hype down. met him a few times. He's very

level-headed and intelligent. He works hard, great work ethic. He

communicates well. Let's calm down a little bit. He is 19. It would

not be a good idea to throw him in under too much pressure. I have no

doubt he will play for Wales. At the moment, leaving to learn his

trade. It has been tough for him. Maybe it will be easier for him

next year. At the moment, leave him and let him develop. Sage advice

that. Thank you for that. Now Friday night, when the Ospreys took

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follow their Christmas wins with desperately. It is no more than the

Zebre desert. 28 minutes gone. There is a penalty coming to the

Ospreys, and a chance to take the lead for the first time. Dan Biggar.

65 minutes gone. The Ospreys Age Ospreys. But Zebre have not looked

and that could be the moment that When they scored that try, we were

just... Just tackle on the line and got the ball away. But I think we

have set a few home truths are now. Refreshing honesty from Adam Jones

there if nothing else. A poor performance hugger that be a

blessing in disguise and a wake-up call? -- but could that be? I don't

know. They made some changes and Zebre came with some really

determine changes. They tried to play a 2 and a half strategies. A

great try that he scored and he is kicking well. This will be

forgotten in three weeks' time and it is a win at the end of the day.

And of course, the Heineken Cup next. Ospreys have come third in

that's wreath. Of -- in that the matter pool. Everybody is having a

pop at the regional game. Ospreys could be contenders to go through

and maybe make a good hit at it. But yesterday, you just forget

about it. They scraped a win. It will be forgotten. And next week

there will be no complacency. They will have an edge there and a great

chance of winning. If I think it is important that they prevent points.

In my experience it is a one school game. Dan Biggar was the main man

sparing the Ospreys their blushes. Does that mean he is in

composition? Well, it's... It is an awkward situation because you've

got Dan Biggar, and then Rhys Priestland, who was the best number

ten. Do they think Dan Biggar is good enough to play that role for

Wales? That is one thought process they have. Secondly, do they then

think Steve Cook can run the game for Wales at Number 10? Those are

the options they have. I know they have got to go with one. That is

the call they have to make a stop whatever they do, they have got to

stick with it. -- they have got to make a start. They are now in a

position where they have got to go with one even after Rhys Priestland.

Who do they go with? It is as simple as that. There was another

in talking point in the game. Let's look at this. Five minutes to go.

Look at that tackle! His own physio comes on. Look at him! Key slides

in. That is a red card. -- he slides in. He is a reserve winger

in a tight match. That could have been different! A different result!

Next up, the principality Premiership and with a writ -- a

round-up of the weekend's action, Carmarthen celebrated their 7th

League win of the season with a bonus point. Jason Harris scored

two tries for his side and Bridgend went home with nothing.

The visitors failed to score when the home side were down to 13 but

there's got two late tries to grab a bonus point. -- but they scored.

This match ended in stalemate, with all the points coming in the first

half. Despite the draw, the visitors outscored the home side by

If Neath other last visiting side to come away with a victory but

after two good wins over Leeds in the Irish Cup they were confident

of another home town when. Over for the opening try. Just the

third minute. Pontypridd on the move again. There could be an

overlap on here. Clayton's caused his third try it in two games. He -

score. The one-way traffic continues. Adam Thomas looking for

an inside run there. The tackling was poor there and there is the

bonus point in injury time for Pontypridd. Karl Thomas weights. --

waits. Six of the best for Pontypridd as they keep up the

The boys have been chomping at the bit to get out there. It has been

quite frustrating for them, waiting, andthey released a bit of

testosterone today and did it with style. -- and I suppose they

Congratulations from everybody here to Ellis Lloyd, this month's

principality Premiership player of the month. He played all his youth

and junior rugby at Hendy RFC before moving to Carmarthen four

years ago. After a difficult Christmas season,

the Dragons travelled to Connacht. A crowd of almost 5,000 gathered in

from this scrum scramble. And it got worse for the Dragons before

half-time. Some of Madame Tussaud's defending allowed a free gallop at

the middle and number 8 finished off the move at the posts. 20

points to three at half-time and the second half brought more of the

same. Danie Poolman was sent it flying at the flag. And all the

while, the former Blues fly half, Dan Parks, had been clicking with

his kicking. And this snacked got goal took his match contribution to

15 points and added further misery. The Dragons did finish with a try.

This corner effort by Jonathan Evans. But it was little

consolation and their slow puncture Plenty of speculation about who the

new coach could be. What is the story? Ad in nine years at the

Ospreys and I deserve a bit of the brick! What I have been doing his

regenerating and spending time with my family and I am enjoying the

break. But watch this space! That is a no! Potentially troubling

times of the pitch and we heard Martin Hazell saying he will fight

tooth and nail to keep the region going. There is a hint that the

number of regions might have to go down and if that is the case, the

Dragons are in a very vulnerable position. Isn't that the case?

don't know. We were nine sides and now we are four. Why would you go

down again? There is enough talent in Wales. If you look at Scotland

and the two regions there, that is not working. How would you cut the

three Chris Bainger would it be geographical? You know, success? --

would -- how would you cut the three? I just think we cannot

afford to go down less than four sides. We need those sides. We need

people to come through who want to play for those sides. I just feel

that the union is making profits. What is the point in making profits

if you are not going to use it? Give the regions more money to be

hopefully more successful and key players in Wales and bring quality

overseas players in to help those youngsters through. -- keep players.

I just find we are always talking about doom and gloom and cutting

sides. What is the point in that? On the subject of money, the

argument goes that if the pot of money for the regions is split into

two it means more money for those two regions. I think there is more

to it. We have to look in more detail at the funding that is there

and the key phrase he mentioned was quality overseas. Both the Blues

and the Scarlets, arguably, two of the worst scrums and the region and

some of the best players. So are we investing properly? The regions

need help with that and if the union is making profit we need to

disburse the money better so our teams are stronger and the boys can

play with a better International's. Yes. I just think we need to look

at it and keep up players in Wales. We could open a real can of worms.

I could get on my soapbox about different things but that is the

key at the moment. Just to try to work together, as we said, and they

put the record together and said, let's work together. And what is

happening? I don't know. They are spouting off about things that they

should and. We will discuss this more after the show, I am sure. But

Ireland and Friday night with a table-topping clash between Ulster

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second and Ulster. Williams was Phillips. -- tie and nicely. --

done! And Jon Davies locks it through. It is all actions staff as

he follows up. -- action stuff. Just the presence of Jacques and...

Great support! -- Jackson. And it just slows down. He might not let

him have it. And chopping and changing now are as Jackson comes

- Class, sheer class from Ulster. Taken by Nick Williams. He's gone

over. Number six of the season for with him. George North. Generous

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it? Yes, he can in smug -- yes, he picked of Aled Thomas. Is at a

penalty? What is the decision? It is a yellow card for Aled Thomas.

is the Scarlets who have the last There is a lot of emotion around at

the moment and we are disappointed. We have to try to move on the best

we can. Yes, we are disappointed, but we have to move on. Where

professional sports people, so we have to act professional. Let's

round-up the weekend's other It is the first time the Ospreys

have been in the top four all A brief injury up date as well.

George North has not suffered any serious injury, I am happy to say.

The Scarlets say it is too early to assess when he will be back in play.

That is the 4th time... It should have been closer. Yes. I think they

will finish in the top two. Apart from the Ospreys, they are

struggling in the scrum department. That has a huge bearing on scores.

It is hard work. The Ospreys are very, very competitive. The other

teams are struggling. To what extent have the wheels fall off for

the Scarlets? -- or fallen off. their set pieces and not great.

are ready to attack, to counter attack. Alec Thomas decides to cake

-- kick. They are struggling in the scrum department. He it takes its

toll. McWilliams burst through there. -- Mick Williams. George

Turnbull is tired. He took up wrong option. A Alec Thomas Legg misses

the tackle. -- Al Ed Thomas misses the tackle. As you get tired, the

Liam Williams was out with concussion. We thought it was time

to find out more about him. We went MUSIC: My Generation by The Who.

Did you ever have any idea you would be performing in

internationals? No, it is quite mad, to be honest. That last two years

have gone by really quickly. It is great to be part of the tame.

were a scaffolder before? Scaffolder by trade. A do you miss

that? No, not at all. It is the same Liam Williams, but a stronger,

faster version. He has done Six Nations is just a month away.

What are your ambitions? First thing is to get fit. I want to do

really well, work hard with them and see if I actually get a game.

few months back, Gareth Thomas was born with lows. A -- was on with us.

He seems at a mental, like me. you wait a mad? A date. Do you have

any heroes? INAUDIBLE. Everybody calls to Sanjay. I had toys and die

would say -- I had toys and I would say, I will give you this tour if

you give me that one, and my mother thought I was like Sanjay off

We are entering enemy territory for you. Who should we spy? Kevin

Murphy. It is great you have time to come back to your old club and

give support. It is good to come down when we can. Liam, it was

tense. It was a close one. Grateful start a it was good to spend time

in your company. Cheers. Top day. Good company, he was. It was

encouraging to see his old coach talking about the fact that there

is more than one route to the top. Look at the Welsh team now. Ryan

Jones is a late developer. I think Liam is a role model to men who do

not need the academy. There are late developers now. The Ospreys

Academy let Leigh Halfpenny go because they said he was too small,

and look at him now. dyke did not play for any national sides. -- I

did not play for any national side. I am grateful to my rugby club. I

enjoyed the game. Phil Bennett gave me my opportunity. Them is so much

raw talent in Wales and we cannot afford to miss any. I think we