They never did get around to sending out a search party to look for Keiran Williams.
But more than a few might have started to wonder about his whereabouts.
As one injury followed another, with illness in the mix as well, the young centre’s appearances in the Ospreys starting lineup became increasingly infrequent. Earlier this season, he was sighted at The Wern, playing for Swansea against Merthyr in the Welsh Premiership, featuring off the bench for the final 28 minutes. It was his first rugby in seven months.
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It’s an understatement to suggest anyone who’d predicted that Williams would be knocking on Warren Gatland’s door for a Wales Six Nations place three months or so later would not have been taken seriously.
But here he is.
Last weekend against Cardiff he stood out with trademark punchy running that reminded onlookers why he had once followed Alun Wyn Jones, Taulupe Faletau and Tomos Williams by winning the Welsh Premiership’s Newcomer of the Year award. There were six defenders beaten, according to one count, and a clean sheet in defence. On a foul day weather-wise, with rain lashing down for much of the game, the Ospreys inside centre didn’t make a mistake and did plenty right on both sides of the ball.
It was a show that delighted his regional coach. “He’s fit and playing exceptionally well, like he did when I first got to know him,” said Toby Booth ahead of the United Rugby Championship game with Leinster in Swansea on Saturday evening.
“He gives you a lot of go-forward and plays tough. Against tough opposition you need tough players and he’s certainly one of those.”
Booth’s take echoed that of former Neath head coach and Wales captain Gareth Llewellyn, who once said: “One of Kieran’s strengths is his strength. He isn’t a huge guy but he’s a pocket-battleship who makes yards on the gain-line.”
Llewellyn continued: “Some people have likened him to Scott Gibbs and he does have quick feet and fast hands.”
But the 92-cap player stressed: “We won’t really know how good he is until he has had a run of opportunities at regional level.”
Those chances are coming now.
Williams has started the Ospreys’ last three games, against Montpellier, Scarlets and Cardiff, all of which have ended in wins and all of which have seen strong performances from the Neath Port Talbot College product lining up in midfield.
Not that you’ll hear the 25-year-old Neath-born player hailing himself.
When asked to name his goals for the campaign, he replies: “I’ll just hopefully play week-in, week-out now and stay fit. That’s my main objective.”
But others are suggesting him as a possible option for Warren Gatland and Wales in the Six Nations, are they not? “It’s great to be touted and on that kind of radar, when people are talking about you, but my focus is purely on playing for the Ospreys week-in, week-out and staying fit, because with the nature of the game and the injuries I’ve have had over the past couple of years, I just have to keep playing and playing well.”
Fair enough. Williams is of the ilk who let their rugby do the talking, an admirable breed in so many ways. But it has been challenging for him these past couple of years, with the former Coleg Sir Gar student experiencing more stop-start than a third-hand car on a frosty morning. There was a head knock, a bump around the ribs, a shoulder injury and an illness.
“It’s been difficult,” he says. “You break through and you hope you are going to play regularly, then you get little niggles and they set you back.
“The only thing that helps a player is playing week-in, week-out because getting that match fitness makes a difference. Little niggles have held me back for the past year or two years. But I’m feeling good at the moment. Hopefully, I can keep that going.”
Route one is all very well, but Williams, who is a modest 5ft 10in, feels he can add to his game. “It’s definitely still a process of trying to make myself a more all-round player,” he says.
“But I also want to focus as much as possible on the things I’m good at.
“If I do that, hopefully the things I’m not so good at will come through.”
With George North, Owen Watkin, Michael Collins and Joe Hawkins for company in the midfield pool at the Ospreys, the certainty is that the competition isn’t going to go away in the short term..
He says Watkin, in particular, has aided his game. “Owen’s been a massive help.
“I’ve played a lot of games with him and he’s a player who has that experience of playing for Wales. Then Scott Williams was here before. He was different in terms of his ball-handling ability. I used to look at what he did in training and try to replicate it, to see if I could do some of those things.
“George North has a lot of experience, as well, while I can’t forget Mikey Collins, who’s a big voice, especially when I play with him. He’s a very good talker and that definitely helps with my game.”
The Ospreys have also benefited of late from having Owen Williams at No. 10, a player who’s been around the block and whose recent performances could also put him in the frame for a Wales Six Nations call.
“As a centre you like to have experience inside and a 10 who takes charge of the game,” says Keiran Williams. “Owen’s allowed me to do what I’m good at. It’s great for the team because he’s brought that experience and calm nature which he has in his game. It’s helped us over the last three games.”
Saturday under lights at the Swansea.com Stadium will see the Ospreys face the United Rugby Championship’s acid test. “For me, Leinster are the best team in Europe,” says Williams.
“They are probably the best team in every facet of the game.
“To beat them would be a massive statement going forward. We’ve identified a lot of areas where we can match them. Hopefully, we’ll bring those things to the game and make that statement going into the latter stage of the competition.”
A big challenge awaits, but Williams is just glad to be playing regularly again.
The man once dubbed an 'absolute tank' has a chance to further interest Warren Gatland.
A good performance would not hurt his cause one bit.
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