Great Scott’s a player we’d like to sign – Tandy
THE Ospreys have confirmed an interest in Wales centre Scott Williams amid speculation he is poised to put pen to paper on a deal to switch from the Scarlets.
Williams is out of contract this summer and came close to signing for the Liberty Stadium region two seasons ago, the deal falling through after the centre had an 11th-hour change of heart.
But the Ospreys are believed to have rekindled their desire to recruit a player who won his 50th Wales cap in the game with New Zealand last Saturday and marked the occasion with a try.
Nothing has been signed yet, but when asked if the region were interested in Williams, head coach Steve Tandy replied: “Yes, we will always be interested in that calibre of player.”
Crushed 47-6 by Glasgow Warriors at the weekend and anchored to the bottom of Conference A in the Guinness PRO14, the Ospreys could do with a figure of Williams’s stature to stiffen their resolve.
But the certainty is the Scarlets will be in no hurry to see the 50-cap centre leave.
They beat off the Ospreys’ interest a couple of years ago by apparently offering Williams an improved deal and persuading the Newcastle Emlyn product of the merits of sticking with his home region.
This time the Ospreys are hopeful the 27-year-old will make the switch and be part of the rebuilding programme they have lined up, with Tandy confirming there are plans for significant recruitment.
“It’s something we need to do as a club,” said Tandy.
“But in fairness, finances have always been tight (during his time as coach).
“Six years ago we went through a bit of a hole and were close to going under so you manage your funding as well as you can. We don’t want to get into that position again and sometimes it gets harder and harder to keep up with the investment. Last year a couple of boys were sold and we made good money from those deals but it’s about hopefully getting some investment into the group.
“We’re pretty confident in doing that and bringing in some players who will make a difference and add competition and help this club be where we want to be.”
The shallowness of the Ospreys’ squad has been exposed, with Glasgow destroying them in Swansea, and their coach made an impassioned plea for the situation to be addressed.
“We definitely need to bring more faces in,” he said. “We brought two in last year and there was a hell of a lot going out.
Meanwhile, James Davies is poised to make his much-anticipated return from injury in the Scarlets’ next South African assignment against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Saturday. The influential openside hasn’t played since aggravating a shoulder injury in the opening Guinness PRO14 match of the season against the Southern Kings in Llanelli. The problem required surgery and a 12-week period of recovery for the Rio Olympian.
“He has gone really well in his rehab and has been back in full contact training,” confirmed Scarlets head coach Wayne Pivac.
The timing of Davies’ injury was unfortunate, especially with a number of Wales’ leading opensides, including British Lions Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric, as well as Ellis Jenkins and Ollie Griffiths picking up injuries ahead of the autumn international series.
Having been controversially snubbed for previous national squads, Davies has been name-checked by Wales coach Warren Gatland over recent weeks.
And Pivac believes the flanker’s allcourt game will fit in perfectly with the expansive gameplan that Wales have tried to implement during this series.
“It’s similar to how we play isn’t it and James is a superstar in our team in our opinion,” said the New Zealander.
“He loves those wide channels, he is a sevens player, he has got that skill and ability, he has pace and he is so good over the ball, he gets you turnover ball.
We score a lot of our points from turnovers through the likes of James. “We rate him very highly. “Obviously, it is someone else’s decision, but we would like to think that one day he will get an opportunity because I personally think he is a very good player.”
The Scarlets, meanwhile, are hopeful that scrum-half Jonathan Evans will recover from the ankle injury he picked up early on in the 34-30 win over the Southern Kings on Sunday to start against the Cheetahs.
Evans was replaced by Wales’ most capped scrum-half Mike Phillips at half-time in Port Elizabeth, but the news from the Scarlets’ camp – who have now moved to Cape Town for a few days – is that the problem is not a serious one.