‘ Leigh was not ready to play’
warm- up before the game with the strapping on his leg and in training he’s walking gingerly, limping. I thought, ‘ Do we really need this guy on the fi eld? Let’s wrap him up in cotton wool and roll him out when we need him’.
“Then you look at the manner he suffered the injury – there was no contact, he just slipped and his knee buckled. That says to me he wasn’t ready. He didn’t need the game time as much as Matthew Morgan or Hallam Amos .
“Leigh is worth nine to 12 points a game and Wales have needed that in the past. He has won them games they probably didn’t deserve to win. People see Leigh put the ball down to kick for goal and they turn away because they expect three points.
“He’s the safest full- back in the world and defensively the best. In fact, he has been consistently the best player Wales have for a while. So when you lose that, it takes its toll.”
Wales’ record tryscorer, with 58 in 87 Tests, still believes they can reach the knockout stages, however, and former England coach Sir Clive Woodward echoed that sentiment, saying Wales were not “mortally wounded” by the setbacks. Williams says veteran scrum- half Mike Phillips, 33, who is expected to be brought back into the Wales squad to replace Webb, could be a reassuring fi gure .
“It will be interesting to see how mentally strong Wales are now ,” said Williams.
“They need someone like Phillips to come in and say, ‘ Look, we’ve had a tough weekend but we’re still a good team and we’re still capable of winning the World Cup.”