SHANE WILLIAMS has spoken for the first time about his decision to retire from all rugby in three months time and admitted: “It just feels like the right thing to do.”
For the first time since he was a young hopeful trying to make his big break in the game, Williams walked to a Six Nations match with the fans in Dublin on Sunday.
Having retired from international rugby last December in a farewell Test against Australia at the Millennium Stadium, the former IRB world player of the year knew sitting in the stands would be a novel experience.
But Williams probably didn’t envisage doing so in the knowledge that come June 2, when he plays for the Barbarians against Wales, the boots will be placed on the peg for good.
However, he insists he has no regrets after agreeing to finish his playing days with the Ospreys at the end of the season, and then take up a business role with the region from then on.
“It has been a tough season, and maybe I haven’t been enjoying it as much,” he conceded.
“But I just know it felt like the right time to call it a day. It’s all very amicable with the Ospreys, they are like a family to me and I am grateful for the opportunity I have with them.
“All I can say is that on the pitch I have been feeling more and more like I am just getting in the way of the youngsters who are coming through the ranks.
“They all have aspirations, they all want to get on and win honours at regional and international level, and I am blocking that to some degree.
“It is a feeling that has gradually come on in the last few months.
“I’ve reached a stage where I want to do other things. I have a lot of business interests away from the game, like in property and with the clothing line, SW11, that I have launched.
“The fact is I just cannot devote any time to stuff like that at the moment.
“I want the chance to go behind the scenes at the Ospreys and learn things on the commercial side of the game, that’s what I’m interested in doing.
“There’s also the offer of quite a bit of TV and radio work which also interests me.
“Physically I still feel really good, training is going well and I’ll give everything between now and the end of the season because that’s the only way I know.
“But mentally I just feel it’s time.
“I always promised myself I would never play for the sake of it, and I never will. It’s as simple as that.”
Williams flew back from Dublin yesterday with the same warm feeling in his stomach as thousands of other Welsh fans who witnessed Warren Gatland’s side’s dramatic victory.
So what was it like to just be a face in the crowd rather than centre stage on
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