Obviously the short term future is the Six Nations and getting our players fit. With nearly everyone fit I think we go into it as favourites so there’s a lot of pressure on us to perform there, which I think we will.
Player-wise, there were a few players that put their hands up during the injury crisis at the Rugby World Cup. We’ve got a young squad and there’s a few I think can step up now and make their mark.
There’s two players I would have loved to see more of because they had their chance through injuries themselves. Scott Williams and Liam Williams got injured against England at the World Cup, and they are two that could really be first choice players for Wales.
Scott Williams is a different centre than what we’ve got. He’s in the mould of Gavin Henson. He’s creative. He’s got a good passing game. He’s physical. It’s a shame he’s injured for the Six Nations because he’s waited so long to get his chance because of Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies in front of him, I just feel so sorry for him because he could have been a star at the World Cup.
Gareth Davies came in for Rhys Webb at the World Cup when there was a lot of talk that Mike Phillips should start, but he did a fantastic job and showed he can play at the highest level.
Liam Williams will certainly feature in this campaign, whether at 15 or on the wing, he’s vital to the way that Wales play because he offers something different.
He’s very creative, he’s got an off-loading game, he’s probably the best off-loader in the Welsh team. When a player like that has the ability to off-load, like the ridiculous back door one, you can’t defend against that, so he’s key and we need to have him fit.
He’s different to the mould Wales play and I think that’s great. He’s not Shane Williams but he’s that type of player. We can’t rely on running over players because he’s 14 stone and 6ft tall. He has to do something different and the more we can get him in the game the better.
Then we have young Tyler Morgan who came in against Fiji and South Africa. This guy’s only 20-years-old. He didn’t feature in the squad when it was announced but came in and didn’t do anything wrong on the field and that’s quite a big ask, not to show yourself up on the field against South Africa.
So I think Wales are in a good place at the moment. We coped very well with injuries and it really shows up against other teams, like today’s opponents Ireland, who vastly struggled with their injuries (Sexton, O’Connell etc), they took their toll massively but we were able to cope. There was such massive momentum after England and it was so great to get through.
