Wales international Tomos Williams has lit up the English Premiership once again, earning plaudits from fellow players.
The Treorchy product played for Gloucester on Saturday evening as they defeated Bristol Bears 53–28, with the former Cardiff Rugby star at the centre of their success.
Not only did he produce a sensational no-look offload, but he was instrumental throughout, slotting two conversions and assisting another try with a perfectly rehearsed set move. His contributions have not gone unnoticed either.
Speaking on the TNT Sports live coverage of Gloucester v Bears, England icon Danny Care heaped the praise on the Welshman. “I think Tomos Williams, for me, is the signing of the season,” explained Care. “He definitely goes on the Lions tour if I was selecting it. He’s a brilliant player, he has really energised that squad. “
He even earned praise from ex-teammate Louis Rees-Zammit, who, like Care, said that Williams should be on the British and Irish Lions tour this summer.
Ulster centre James Hume reposted the clip of Williams' offload, writing: 'Insane stuff', while famous Welsh stars Gareth Davies, Rhys Priestland, Alex Cuthbert and Sam Warburton, amongst others, showed their appreciation on Instagram.
You can watch his sensational piece of skill again below.
Williams’ expert handling is a skill he’s had since he was very young, as pointed out to viewers by Warburton on Saturday's TV commentary. The 29-year-old represented Wales at international level as a junior in basketball, following in the footsteps of his parents.
Speaking to WalesOnline back in 2020, Williams said: "My mother played and my old man coached, so I played it from ever since I was walking, pretty much as soon as I could get a ball. "We used to have have the old hoop out the back of the house."
Williams used to play for RCT Gladiators in the Rhondda valley and his position was point guard. For those unfamiliar, that's the player generally gets most of the possession.
Touching on how basketball helped him in his rugby career, he continued: "It’s definitely helped me a lot with my general coordination and especially my handling. It’s helped my footwork a lot as well. I think if you look at the top basketball players, they have all got unbelievable ball skills. I’ve always enjoyed playing the sport. I played for Wales under-16s but there came a point when I had to decide between that and rugby. I had to give up one or the other when the (Cardiff) Blues Academy called me when I was about 18.”
The superb assist for Gloucester at the weekend wasn’t the first time Williams has shown his class when it comes to handling. Rewind back to the 2019 World Cup in Japan, and the scrum-half pulled off a stunning feat of skill against Australia in the pool stage. With a Wallaby kick seemingly heading out for a dangerous attacking lineout, Williams jumped and slapped the ball back into play all whilst being airborne, taking the pressure off Wales.
Alongside the likes of Dewi Lake, Aaron Wainwright and Jac Morgan, Tomos Williams is one of the few Welshman likely to earn a place in the Lions squad for the upcoming tour Down Under. If he does get selected, he will have a very tough task of competing with Ireland's Jamison Gibson-Park for the starting nine berth.
He left Welsh rugby at the end of the 2023/2024 season, in favour of a move to Gloucester. Williams remained eligible to represent Wales at international level, having more than the 25 caps required to do so. The scrum-half has so far earned 64 appearances for his nation, and looks set to add even more Test caps to his resume this summer for the Lions.
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