Piutau ‘signing of summer’ – Williams
Matt Lloyd discovers how Wales legend Martyn Williams assesses the new season for the Celts
Martyn Williams reckons Ulster have found a league winner in Charles Piutau.The former Wales and British Lions star believes Les Kiss has pulled off a huge coup with the capture of Piutau from Wasps.
And that could prove the final ingredient for the Ulstermen to claim back the Guinness Pro12 title they last won in 2013.
“Piutau is such a class player that he could be the man to win the league for Ulster,” said Pro12 pundit Williams.
“He’s the sort of exciting ball-player that people come to watch. Injuries aside, he will be available all season and that is going to be a massive factor for Ulster during the international period. He could be the signing of the summer.”
Connacht produced the biggest shock in Pro12 history with a stunning Grand Final victory over Leinster. But Williams doubts lightning can strike twice.
He said:“What Connacht did last year was amazing and Pat Lam deserves all the credit he gets. But there is little doubt that the disruption caused to most other teams by the World Cup really helped them and that will not be the same again.
“Saying that, I fully expected them to fall away last season when the rest of the league was back to full strength and they just kept going.The way they played in the final was wonderful, they ran Leinster off the park and thoroughly deserved the title.”
Now Williams believes that shock to the system has proved a wake-up call to the rest of the league and will lead to the most openly contested title race ever.
“This promises to be a really exciting season. In the past there have been one of two sides that have stood out from the rest but this season could be anyone’s,” said Williams.
“Ulster and Leinster are always in the mix, Glasgow have become a very strong and consistent side in the league while the message to the Welsh regions, after Connacht’s success, is that anything is possible.
“The Welsh regions can have no excuses for not competing for the Pro12.There are very valid reasons why they struggle in Europe, mostly financial, but they should be looking at having three teams in the top six or seven places in the Pro12 this season.
“Cardiff Blues, Scarlets and Ospreys have as good a line-up as any other team in the
league and have all strengthened their squads for the international period.
“The autumn and Six Nations periods are crucial to success in this league and we have seen that with most teams recruiting squad players, rather than major stars.”
However Williams remains critical at the lack of progress made by the Italian sides in the Pro12.
Since their introduction to an expanded competition in 2010, an Italian side has finished last every year and only once outside the bottom three.
“The Italian sides seem to be going backwards at a rate of knots.The other countries should be applauded for opening the door but the Italians have brought little to the tournament.”
Steve Tandy is backing new recruits Rhodri Jones and Bradley Davies to shore up the Ospreys scrum as the Guinness Pro12’s big kick-off nears.
They begin their campaign by hosting Italian side Zebre at the Liberty Stadium on Friday night, looking to bounce back after a disappointing 2015-16 season.
Having become accustomed to challenging for silverware and qualifying for the Champions Cup, the Ospreys failed to feature on either count last term, finishing eighth in the Pro12 after a horrendous run of results during the opening months left them with too much to do.
One of the recurring issues was a weakness at the scrum where, not helped by injuries, they found themselves targeted at the set-piece.
Aaron Jarvis has departed for Clermont Auvergne, but the acquisition of tighthead Jones from local rivals the Scarlets means they have been able to replace one Wales international with another in the front row.
Lock Davies, meanwhile, returns to his homeland after a successful spell in the Aviva Premiership with Wasps, and his imposing 119kg frame will add significant ballast to the pack.
All of which leaves head coach Tandy in confident mood.
“We have definitely got to step up around that facet of the game,” said Tandy.
“We have done a lot of work in preseason and it not just a tight-head thing, it is a front-five thing and it is something where we have put a lot of work in.
“With Dimitri Arhip, Ma’afu Fia, Rhodri and Dan Suter there is a bit of competition there, as we have at hooker and at loosehead and we know Rhodri will be an asset to us.
“If you also look at what is behind those boys.We had to play a lot of back-row in the second row last year because of circumstance, we have now got some big blocks of meat now to go behind the front three which will hopefully help them.”