Ospreys set sights on returning Williams
THE Ospreys are looking to sign Wales international Owen Williams — but could face competition for the talented utility back’s services.
The Dragons are also believed to be interested in the man who can play at fly-half or inside centre.
Williams was named in Wayne Pivac’s original squad for the Six Nations, only to be ruled out by injury.
He is out of contract at Gloucester this summer and has to return to Welsh rugby to continue his Test career under the rule that bars exiled players from playing for Wales if they have fewer than 60 caps.
Williams has three caps to his name thus far.
Part of Williams’s appeal is that he could be included in Pivac’s elite 38-man squad, with 80 per cent of his wages picked up by the Welsh Rugby Union, with the rest looked after by whoever signs him.
The Ospreys are on a mission to recruit players with an ‘emotional attachment’ to the region and Williams, who comes from Ystradgynlais and was a pupil at Ysgol Gyfun Ystalyfera, would fit that particular bill.
And the 28-year-old’s versatility is also attractive to a region who have been battered by injuries in recent months.
They have embarked on a rebuilding campaign that has seen them snap up Rhys Webb and Mat
Protheroe behind the scrum, with Nicky Thomas and Rhys Davies signing on up front.
They should also have the likes of Gareth Anscombe, Keelan Giles, James King, Dan Evans, and Rhodri Jones available for next season.
But the Dragons are also being spoken about as potential suitors for Williams.
With his accurate kicking out of hand, intelligence and smart distribution, Williams could offer them a double-playmaker option outside Sam Davies.
Prior to joining Gloucester, Williams established himself as firstchoice fly-half with Leicester, playing more than 100 games for the English giants and keeping Toby
Flood out of the side.
He won glowing reviews for his performances in the English Premiership and earned a Wales callup under Warren Gatland, being chosen alongside Jonathan Davies against Australia in 2017 in what was seen as a new creative brand after the Jamie Roberts era.
However, his exiled status made it harder to maintain his Wales challenge and there were also a series of injuries, some of them bad, which knocked Williams out of contention for long periods.
His talent, however, is not in doubt, with some feeling he could offer something tangible to Wales under Pivac.
MARK ORDERS