Whisper it gently, but there are signs that Keelan Giles may be upwardly mobile once again.
It’s never wise to speak too soon in these matters, let alone organise a Red Arrows flypast, but this time there is mounting hope that the diminutive Ospreys player is getting back to where he was prior to the injury issues that knocked his career sideways.
Not every casual observer may even remember him.
Read more: Brian O'Driscoll names Welsh young gun among Europe's best
He’s the wing who once made the shortlist for BBC’s Young Sports Personality of the Year, an award previously won by Wayne Rooney, Andy Murray, Theo Walcott and Tom Daley.
Referencing his “mesmeric footwork and gliding pace”, The Sunday Times called him a prodigy and said Welsh rugby had seen nothing like him since Shane Williams.
Leigh Halfpenny recalled Giles had been playing mini-rugby for Gorseinon 10 years previously. “You could see there was something special about him, even then,” enthused the much-decorated full-back. “He had so much gas; he’s a huge talent.” His old Ospreys team-mate Dan Baker said of Giles’s entry to the scene: “You just thought: ‘Wow!’ Who is this guy?’” You can see the type of remarkable things he was doing as a teenager back in 2016 here.
By now the talented youngster was supposed to be a superstar. But two major knee injuries over three years saw his progress halted. There has also been time spent patiently trying to rediscover his old sharpness.
But light has finally appeared at the end of a long dark tunnel.
Giles has started the Ospreys’ last five games and stayed on the field for the full 80 in four of those. Last Saturday, he was that rarity indeed, an Ospreys player who emerged from a tough afternoon against the Stormers in Cape Town with his reputation enhanced.
The Welsh team made five line busts, three of them by Giles. They beat nine defenders, with their left wing responsible for leaving four of those opponents in his slipstream.
It may not have added up to cause for wild celebration, but what progress the Swansea.com Stadium team did make in attack came largely from their No. 11 and scrum-half Rhys Webb.
Just days earlier Ospreys head coach Toby Booth had been asked if the Welsh team were striving to bring the likes of Giles into play more and perhaps take a lead from South African sides who seemed to so effortlessly utilise their own back-three players, often built along similar lines to Giles and blessed with electric pace and skills. “Absolutely,” replied Booth. “We want to do it with all our edge players.”
It’s a work in progress because their attacks often break down before they reach their wide-men. But in the shape of players like Giles, Mat Protheroe, Luke Morgan and George North the Welsh team need to keep persevering — North, of course, offering a different option with his power.
But seeing Giles take off down his wing last week, leaving defenders in his vapour stream, provided hope that better times may be ahead for the former boy wonder.
Those who have questioned his defence in the past should be alerted to his being one of only two players in the Ospreys starting line-up — Owen Watkin was the other — who didn’t miss a tackle against the Stormers: five hits attempted, every one nailed.
Now he needs to keep building and start scoring tries again. Former Ospreys attack coach Matt Sherratt once said of him: “He’s a brilliant lad, popular with his fellow players. If he gets fit it’s a real plus because he has things that can’t be coached. He has unbelievable footwork and pace off the mark.
“Sometimes, a player will have athletic abilities but be lacking in game-sense. But Keelan’s a bright player who has soft skills. His catch-pass is good and he’s a student of the game who watches a lot of rugby, and his rugby sense sets him apart. Once he gets a few games under his belt, who knows where he’ll go.”
It’s way too soon for him to think of anything more than playing for the Ospreys at this point.
And being a grounded sort, the certainty is that’s all he will be thinking of.
But for the rest of us, it was still good to see him back and operating at somewhere near his best.
In their song New Kid in Town, the American rock band The Eagles reckoned: “They will never forget you ’til somebody new comes along.” Plenty of new wings have come along while Giles has been battling his injuries, but there’s still time to fulfil his promise.
He just needs fate to be kind to him.
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