Shane Williams believes Keiran Williams can offer Wales something different if Warren Gatland gives him a chance ahead of this year's World Cup.
The uncapped Ospreys centre was part of Gatland's squad for the Six Nations, in which Wales finished fifth with just one win to their name, but the 25-year-old didn't feature at all throughout the tournament. Having not been included in the matchday 23 for the opening matches against Ireland, Scotland and England, injury on duty for the Ospreys ruled him out of the remaining clashes with Italy and France.
However, after a tough tournament for Gatland and his side, Wales' best midfield combination is still up in the air. Joe Hawkins and George North started the tournament together, before Cardiff youngster Mason Grady was brought in alongside Hawkins. The campaign then ended with North partnering Nick Tompkins.
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But Wales' record try-scorer Williams believes the hard-running Ospreys centre can offer something different to Wales' midfield should he get the chance between now and the World Cup later this year in France.
"He made so many changes, if you didn't get on that field during the Six Nations, you were very unlucky, weren't you," Williams told WalesOnline.
"We had a look at Mason Grady. I feel he's got a lot of potential alongside Joe Hawkins. It didn't go particularly well for them against Italy, but they're young and they'll learn from that.
"It felt to me like it was crying out for Keiran Williams to have a chance. He wasn't used, of course. We didn't see much of Rhys Davies and Aaron Wainwright only came back in the last game. Jac Morgan had a couple of opportunities but there were so many changes.
"But, Keiran Williams is the big one for me. I think he's been superb for the Ospreys. He's a little bit different in what we've had compared to Jamie Roberts or Jonathan Davies - or even Mason Grady right now. I had my fingers crossed that he'd get an opportunity but he hasn't. However, I'm sure he'll have other opportunities moving forward with the World Cup. He'd have been a nice change, I think."
Whether the Ospreys centre comes into Gatland's reckoning remains to be seen, but regardless of one personnel change, it's fair to say there is substantial work to be done ahead of this year's World Cup.
A lacklustre Six Nations, which will be remembered as much for the drama off the field as anything produced on it, doesn't exactly bode well especially when Ireland and France continue to show no signs of peaking too soon.
But the message from Wales camp, particularly towards the end of the campaign once the aftermath of the potential strike action settled down, was that this team would only get better as the year went on. In fact, both Gatland and captain Ken Owens were adamant they would surprise teams in France and raise a few eyebrows with how good they are.
Wales legend Williams, having been part of a middling Six Nations campaign in 2011 months before a run to a World Cup semi-final, has been here before. But does he believe history will repeat itself?
"It's the Welsh team," he said. "They've always got the capability of big games, wins and scalps. We tend to do pretty well in World Cups, to be fair. They are going to get better.
"Warren Gatland took the job over and he had a couple of weeks prior to the Six Nations to get the lads together, see what they're all about and try shapeshift them into a side worthy of winning the Six Nations. I think we found out very early on against Ireland that we've got a lot of work to do.
"We played the Grand Slam champions first, which is never easy as you can get disheartened and think the rest of this tournament is going to be hard work.
"But he'll have a lot of time to work with the players and see what they're about, looking at combinations and looking at those who are on form. You can't just pick guys on reputation.
"There's some warm-ups too against England and South Africa where he can look at combinations. He'll have a relatively big camp getting them ready for the World Cup.
"In 2011, our training camp in Poland was one of the best camps I've ever been to. We worked hard, we got fit and we were strong. We went into that World Cup very, very confident. I'd like to think he'd be able to do the same again this time."
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Wales’ record try scorer Shane Williams is part of the Viaplay TV team bringing every game live from the BKT United Rugby Championship throughout the season including all the knock-out stages and the grand final. This Saturday Shane Williams will be joined by Ross Harries, Tom Shanklin, Rhys Ap Williams and Lauren Smith for live and exclusive UK coverage of Ospreys v Dragons from Swansea.com stadium with all the build-up from 12.30pm (with a 1pm kick off). Visit www.viaplay.com for more information. Viaplay is available on Sky, Virgin TV, Amazon Prime and online through the Viaplay App.
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