Pivac has seem to have had issues with the number 9 position since becoming the head coach for Wales 2 years ago.
Having been a fan of the lad from Treorchy, Tomos Williams, since his days after playing 7’s and coming to Cardiff Blues its very difficult not to be bias.
Wayne Pivac is open about still after 2 years not knowing who his best scrum half is, that all being said it has been a quite strange few years and sadly not many matches.
But in his first year in the job, the only players to wear the 9 jersey on two consecutive occasions were Tomos Williams and Gareth Davies. But two matches was as much of a run as anyone had in the shirt.
Then the former started the 2021 Six Nations as the first choice before pulling up in the first half of the campaign with a muscle injury. That forced Pivac’s to have to re-shuffle yet again and Davies and Kieran Hardy wore the jersey.
No one knows who Pivacs number one guy is for the position
It seems our Cardiff scrum-half has been the first to stake a claim to the No.9 shirt
A blinding start was had to the campaign during his side’s action-packed 33-21 win over Connacht while sporting on Friday night, having grafted hard over the summer.
Williams has had a run of poorly timed injuries so far during his career. We believe that the blow early in the 2021 Six Nations campaign, he would have been a contender to tour with the Lions this summer, which could have changed a few things.
Dai Young, has said ‘he’s spent time attempting to ‘bulletproof’ himself so that he can put his best foot forward when the call to step up comes.’
Williams played a great 60 minutes, coming off the bench when the Blue and Blacks lost both fly-halves Rhys Priestland and Jarrod Evans to first half injuries and Cardiffs scrum half Lloyd moved up a number to the 10 position leaving Tomos to his usual position.
Boy oh boy did he hit the ground running, proving a constant threat and setting up tries for Willis Halaholo and Owen Lane with tidy runs and well-timed passes.
“Tomos was a real asset to us and a real threat to them every time he had the ball. He created most of our opportunities,” beamed Cardiff boss Young after the match.
“If you look at our tries, he had a hand in most of them.
“He’s oozing talent, we know that.
“There are lots of good nines about but anyone that is in front of him must be some sort of player.
“He gets injured at the wrong times. Pretty much every time he’s gone into [Wales] camp, he’s picked up an injury. That’s either just before or at the start.
“He’s been working hard in pre-season, not only on his fitness but also trying to bulletproof himself. If he can stay on the field, the sky’s the limit for him.”
Williams not only proved a constant threat but controlled the game nicely along with his fellow scrum-half outside him.
“I think he needs to have a look at himself for missing that last one, I’ve got to be honest,” laughed Young.
“He’s always kicking [in training] but he’s normally having a row for doing it because he has other things that he needs to be doing.
“When you’ve got three 10s in the club, you don’t really expect your nine to have to step up but he looked so confident, didn’t he?
So what are we to take from his opening performance?
It must be viewed as a gauntlet well and truly laid down to Davies and Hardy, who still have time to respond before the interesting clash against the world number 1, All Blacks next month.