Williams: I'm not hanging up my boots yet
Mon, 22 Mar 2010 13:36
Getting stuck in: Welsh flank Martyn Williams
Veteran Welsh openside flank Martyn Williams says he has no intentions of hanging up his boots just yet as he has set his sights on next year's World Cup in New Zealand.
Williams was left out of the Welsh side for the final Six Nations match against Italy with 21-year-old Sam Warburton being preferred on the side of the scrum.
The experienced loose forward's exclusion from the match 22 was even more surprising given that he had been named as captain the week before when Wales travelled to Croke Park to take on the Irish.
"Going from captaining your country to not even being in the squad is a pretty tough situation to swallow," Williams told the South Wales Echo.
"Warren [Gatland] called me to one side at the start of the week and just said he thought he had to give Warburton a run in the final game and I accepted his reasoning.
"As frustrating as it was not to be out there against Italy, it was genuinely great to see the team go out and get a good win to finish the tournament.
"While I have not had a particularly happy tournament on a personal level, I also don't think I have been half as bad as some have said, or implied.
"I am my own harshest critic and I held my hand up after the Scotland game and said I was poor. I was.
"But I have also been around enough to know that things change quickly in this game - and people’s assessments and opinions are fickle.
"A couple of good games can leave you on top of the world again and I believe I still have plenty to offer.
"The most important thing is that the hunger is still there. When you lose that you really do know it’s time to call it quits, but I haven't lost it.
"The main emotion I take away from this Six Nations is frustration. It annoys me that we seem to be an everything or nothing side, we're either winning a Grand Slam or finishing fourth."
"I have said I will try to reach the World Cup and none of my goals on that front have changed."
Wales have a daunting schedule ahead with matches against Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in 2010 before next year's Six Nations.
The man expected to be the long-term successor to Williams is his Blues team-mate Sam Warburton who is eager to learn as much as possible from the experienced flank.
"Hopefully Martyn can stay around until the World Cup," Warburton told the Western Mail.
"He is a great guy to bounce ideas off, he is a big help and he is playing really well.
"It’s nice to have the competition and you want to have two players pushing each other to get the best out of one another.
"I would like to think Martyn is pushing me very hard and hopefully I am doing the same for him. He is certainly helping to bring the best out of me.
"I feel I am making progress. Each cap I have won has got progressively harder and I just want to keep improving and gain some more experience."
Warburton started in the No. 7 jersey against Italy in the Six Nations and was one of the stand-out performers during the 33-10 victory for Wales.
The promising flank now has plans to get a place in the Welsh squad that will tour New Zealand later in the year.
"It’s all very well playing well in this game [Versus Italy] but I have to do the same for my region until the end of the season.
"I would love to go on tour to New Zealand. I've always wanted to go there.
"To gain any tour experience like that would be great."
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