DOWN THE SNAKES FOR TANDY’S BOYS
LIAM Williams has revealed he’s sought out a therapist to help curb his speech impediment and excessive swearing.
The 26-year-old Wales and Lions star told the Sunday Times how his stammer and being prone to swearing is the reason why rugby fans don’t see much of the Saracens wing doing TV work.
And he told the newspaper he’s finally plucked up enough courage to do something about it.
The 43-times capped former Scarlets full-back said: “I swear a lot.
“That’s why I don’t do much TV work. If I know in my head that I’m going to stop speaking I’ll swear. I’m learning not to swear as much.
“With the stammer, I used to take myself out of groups.
“If the lads were stood around talking, I’d edge away, thinking ‘I’m a bit uncomfortable talking in a big group’.
“I want to improve myself so I’ve been to see a speech therapist.
“The therapist has a speech impediment himself but learnt to overcome it.
“He recorded me speaking and he’s going to come back with a series of recommendations and map out the way forward. The aim is to do more TV work. It pays well, after all.”
Williams is in his first season with the European heavyweights after quitting PRO rugby champions the Scarlets for life at Allianz Park in the summer.
The Lions full-back in the drawn Test series with New Zealand, was seen as a ready-made replacement for Chris Ashton on the wing when the England international left Saracens for Toulon.
“I wanted to be at a club which has been the best in Europe for the past two years,” said Williams.
“In want to win trophies and make amazing memories. I’ve never laughed so much in my life.
“I knew I had big shoes to fill. The whole team love Ashy (Ashton) and he scored a lot of tries.
“I am very sorry Ashy but I am more of a team man.”
Williams also revealed had the new Wales selection policy, where only players with 60 or more caps can ply their trade outside the country, been brought in before his move to England, then he would have stayed at home.
“If I wasn’t allowed to play for Wales when I signed for Saracens I would never have left,” he
STEVE Tandy would have hoped nights like this were behind the Ospreys. The Liberty region had been in recovery mode in recent weeks, but the rehabilitation suffered a serious setback against a dominant Edinburgh in Myreside.
Take out the promise of the opening 20 minutes and Tandy’s side were second best by a distance as they stumbled to a sixth league defeat of the Guinness PRO14 campaign, consigning the four-time champions back to the bottom of the Conference A standings... looked composed and focused in attack, building phases before putting prop Dmitri Arhip over for the game’s opening try. However, once outstanding young Edinburgh full-back Blair Kinghorn crossed 12 minutes before half-time, the wheels came tumbling off in alarming fashion, not helped by the sin-binning of scrum-half Brendon Leonard.
Starved of possession, the Ospreys were forced to soak up wave upon wave of Edinburgh attacks.
The stats showed they made 190 tackles in all and had a measly 20% of possession in an embarrassingly onesided second period.
When the Scots had the ball, their carriers were consistently able to charge over the gainline, while the Ospreys carried the look of their earlyseason struggles with a distinct lack of penetration when they attempted to launch attacks. display. We made a lot of changes this week and certain players didn’t step up. As a group we have to take it on the chin,” he said.
“Up until half-time I thought we were decent, but ultimately that second-half performance wasn’t good enough. We have no excuses. We came up here with what we felt was a strong team, but we didn’t perform in that second half.” IT’S not often that a tight-head prop finishes the game as your side’s leading tackler, especially when he is hauled off after 57 minutes. So take a bow Dmitri Arhip. The return to fitness of the Moldovan strongman has provided a welcome tonic for Tandy and his coaching team in recent weeks.
Arhip was unstoppable from close range for his try; put in a couple of crunching hits amid the 17 tackles he made and also locked the Ospreys scrum, winning an early penalty during their first-quarter ascendancy. north, while in contrast, Scotland coach Gregor Townsend released seven of his squad to take their place in Edinburgh’s match-day squad.
Those included man of the match Cornell du Preez, experienced second row Grant Gilchrist, flanker Jamie Ritchie and try-scorer Nathan Fowles.
Tandy may have been in no mood for excuses afterwards, but the imbalance in international quality clearly told. And with Gatland having already hinted that he is unlikely to release many players back for regional duty over the next four weeks, it doesn’t look like the cavalry are going to be riding in anytime soon. Next up in the PRO14, following a two-week break for Anglo-Welsh competition, the Ospreys face unbeaten Glasgow in Swansea before heading to Cork to take on Munster on the same day as Wales clash with the Springboks in Cardiff. It doesn’t get any easier. A WEEK after picking up the man-ofthe-match award in Treviso, the former Dragons fly-half enjoyed another fine game.
He was aided by the amount of quick, front-foot ball provided by Edinburgh’s forwards, but his passing was slick and he ghosted clear for a smart solo try, taking advantage of a tiring Ospreys defence. He also kicked all but one of his shots at goal.