Liam Williams wishes this season was not coming to a close, even though he admits it has been one of the worst he can remember.
The Wales and Scarlets full-back could have just two more matches if his region fail to get back into the top four of the Guinness Pro12, having been there almost the entire season.
Last week’s heavy home defeat to Glasgow dropped the Scarlets back into fifth spot, meaning the chances of them reaching the play-offs now depends on other teams slipping up.
That’s a significant blow for Williams who was keen to extend the campaign for as long as possible – before the summer tour to New Zealand – having missed so much of it.
The 46-10 defeat to the in-form Scottish team was only Williams’ second regional appearance of a season that has been hit hard by injury setbacks.
He recovered from foot surgery to play in the Rugby World Cup, only to aggravate the problem against Australia in the pool stages. A further operation followed, sidelining him for the best part of four months; he played 60 minutes against Connacht at the end January and was then back on Wales duty in Dublin eight days later.
Williams was back to his stirring best as the tournament progressed, starring against France and England.
But a hamstring tear picked up in the Championship finale against Italy meant the 25-year-old had to play the waiting game once again before pulling on the Scarlets jersey.
“It has been a pretty tough year,” reflected Williams.
“The season has been very frustrating. To be injured during the World Cup and then come back to the Scarlets after the Six Nations injured was an absolute nightmare.
“I have never been injured before in my whole life. To break my foot twice, have two operations and tear my hamstring in the last game of the Six Nations and miss a few more weeks is a nightmare.
“So I feel the season has just started. I have not played a lot of rugby and I am looking forward to getting back out on the park. I am fine and always raring to go.”
Pic: Huw Evans Agency.
Williams insists he has yet to give any thought o facing the All Blacks this summer and still hopes his own preparations can be extended by two further games.
“I have not thought about that tour yet. I have two more games with the Scarlets and hopefully we are going to make the top four and play-offs and hopefully have two more games after that.
“We have two games left against the Dragons and Munster so there is no reason why we can’t beat them.
“I have not had a look at what we have to do mathematically. We just need to win both games.”
He may have only just returned to action and suffered a fractured campaign, but the former scaffolder will not construct any excuses to cover what he felt was dismal performance last week – both individually and from the team.
“It was good to be back in front of the Scarlets crowd again but I was absolutely shocking.
“I didn’t look after the ball at all and lost the aerial battle. The aerial battle is something I thrive on and I don’t think I got one. To come back here and lose was awful.
“I only played 60 minutes before the Six Nations and yet I played the whole tournament so I should have been ready to go.
“I had been injured for a couple of weeks so to come back and be that rubbish was not acceptable.”
With the Scarlets long ago out of Europe for this season, Williams is now focusing on their next match – against the Newport Gwent Dragons next week as part of the Judgement Day weekend at the Principality Stadium.
“They are saying there could be 60,000 regional rugby fans. You have to separate the fact it’s a local derby and you are playing against mates because we need the points.
“It’s going to be a great occasion but we need to get these wins now.
“Hallam Amos is looking sharp and I watched clips of the game against the Blues and he has been on good form I am looking forward to the battle.”
