Golden boy Williams confident of keeping the Wales winning streak going

LIAM WILLIAMS has the Midas touch in 2019 — and his only goal now with Wales is to end a perfect year by lifting the World Cup. The full-back, 28, has won everything in which he has competed in this calendar year, only being on the losing side three times in 20 games. He is used to the biggest occasions, too, having won the Premiership and European Cup with Saracens and a Six Nations Grand Slam with his country. But against France in the World Cup quarter-final in Oita on Sunday, Williams is out to complete the set. ‘There’s only one thing we think we can do and that is win it,’ he said when asked about Wales’s chances in Japan. ‘I wouldn’t say we’ve got the easy route, but we’ve got France next and we need to beat them. ‘We can go on and win it. Over the past 18 months we’ve won the Six Nations and been away on a couple of these camps and it has all brought us into one huge team. ‘That’s been great for Wales and hopefully it’s going to put us in really good stead. ‘We’ve beaten France seven out of the last eight times. This is the biggest one. It’s going to be a tough one.’ Williams has only suffered defeat by Les Bleus in the notorious 100-minute match of 2017. Wales with Williams have won all five other Tests against France. But he is still wary. ‘France have been playing really well,’ he said. ‘They have got some old heads in their team and they have a lot of experience.’ As does Williams, who has now won 61 caps. He cites his move to Saracens as a key factor in his development and maturity after six seasons at the Scarlets. ‘Leaving Wales to go and play up in London was great,’ he said. ‘That’s taught me a lot about myself on and off the pitch. Hopefully it shows.’ Williams is glad that his friend Dan Biggar — who is back in full training — has recovered from his second concussion of the tournament, having accidentally knocked him out jumping for a high ball against Fiji. ‘The ball

was in the middle of the two of us and he is not one to back out, so I went up for it and unfortunately caught him on the way down — well, in the air and on the way down! ‘He said after the World Cup it’s his turn to knock me out!’ Williams joked, explaining that Biggar ‘owes him one’ after he also cut the fly-half’s chin in a training collision before the Georgia game. Like most of the Wales team, Williams seems relaxed and confident heading into the knockout stages, thanks to coach Warren Gatland’s influence. ‘He’s upstairs having a laugh and a joke now,’ Williams said of the boss. ‘He doesn’t really switch much. He’s just himself and gives us a lot of energy. ‘We’ll have a laugh and a joke, but when it comes down to working, we’ll work.’ And it is all working wonderfully well for Wales’s golden boy.