Your rugby evening headlines for Sunday, April 3.
Shane's top of the pile, says coach Lyn
He coached him for a decade and saw him score some wonderful tries in that time, so it’s wholly understandable for Lyn Jones to rate Shane Williams in his sidestepping, try-scoring pomp as an exceptional rugby player.
Quite how far his admiration for the former Neath, Ospreys and Wales wing extends has only now been revealed, however.
In an interview with Phil Steele for Scrum V, Jones touts Williams as the finest Welsh rugby player of them all. For a man who played alongside Jonathan Davies and is old enough to remember Gareth Edwards at his very best, that is some call.
But Jones is adamant, saying: “When Shane finished he was probably Wales’ greatest-ever player, and I’m including Gareth Edwards in that, as well.
“I always thought Elgan Rees was a brilliant player during my time here and I always thought he would always be Neath’s greatest winger, but Shane came along and surpassed him very quickly. He just got people off their seats to watch.
“Shane wasn’t difficult to coach. When players like that come along you don’t really coach them too much. You just allow them a framework to play within. He came here as a second-choice scrum-half; he really wasn’t a good scrum-half. He could only pass one way and kick with his left foot which is always a problem for a nine. You can read more about Lyn Jones and his rugby tales here.
“Through accident we eventually moved him to the right wing. The left winger told me to my face he was never going to kick the ball. I said: ‘Fine, you go on the right.” And Shane came over to the left, and he did well.”
He was asked to confirm his view that he rated Williams better than Edwards. “And Gerald Davies,” he says. “That’s my opinion. I’m sure that guys who are 10 years and a generation older than me will perhaps say different and say Barry John or Phil Bennett or whoever.
“But the things that Shane did for Wales and the Ospreys and Neath — he kept a lot of people employed, and I mean coaches as well.”
Coach blasts ‘pathetic’ performance
Talking of Lyn Jones, as he developed as a coach he learned there was only so much to be learned from lambasting his team in public, a practice players tend not to like.
“You need to show players the light, not the dark,” said Jones, “and particularly during matches”.
Anyway, cut to Sale Sharks and their rugby consultant Steve Diamond not exactly sparing his squad the rod as he positively seethed after their 45-10 Gallagher Premiership defeat by Newcastle Falcons.
“It was a performance that was totally out of character,” said Diamond. “It was wholly pathetic. Newcastle are a hard-working side and they put us to bed. It was embarrassing and I feel for the Worcester supporters.
“We were never at the races. We cannot use illness as an excuse as we trained reasonably well over the last few days. There are no excuses. We were completely off centre and did not compete in any area whatsoever.”
It seems reasonable to conclude that the Monday morning debrief at Sixways won’t be a barrel of laughs.
Gareth Davies wins fans' vote
Gareth Davies may have had a challenging Six Nations with Wales, starting just one game and that the one that ended in defeat against Italy, but his star is high in the sky at regional level.
Scarlets supporters have just picked him their player of the month for March.
In a poll on the region’s Twitter and Instagram social media channels, more than 2,000 people voted, with the scrum-half (711) the most popular choice for the Oil 4 Wales-sponsored award ahead of lock Sam Lousi (655). In-form Ryan Conbeer and the consistently strong Blade Thomson were the other contenders.
Davies shone during the Scarlets’ home win over Glasgow Warriors, scoring a crucial second-half try. He didn’t travel to South Africa for the region's short tour because he was on Six Nations duty but returned against Zebre in Parma last weekend when he was selected as the United Rugby Championship player of the match.
The 31-year-old has started April in fine fettle, too, with an accomplished display proving a key element in his team’s 35-20 URC win over Cardiff on Saturday evening.
Newport's unbeaten run comes to an end
Newport RFC have lost their first game of the season, going down 32-31 to RGC in a dramatic encounter on Sunday afternoon.
The Black and Ambers took a lead very late on thanks to a Matt O'Brien penalty but there was still time for Dion Jones to win it for the visitors.
Newport, though, picked up two bonus points, meaning they are nine points ahead of Cardiff at the top of the Premiership, though the Blue and Blacks have one game in hand.
