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Liam Williams’ boots had only been hung up for a matter of weeks. Maybe a fortnight on the shelf.
But the allure of rugby, even after calling time on a storied career that brought countless Wales caps, two Six Nations titles and two Lions tours, proved too strong.
From finishing up playing with Newcastle last month, the 35-year-old now finds himself at the start of a new chapter of his life – helping out his former side Scarlets with some coaching.
If it’s anything like the previous one, you can be sure that he will throw everything he has into it.
“From scaffolding, the only thing I’ve known is rugby,” Williams tells WalesOnline. “I’ve been umming and ahhing about coaching.
“With my experiences over the years and working under some great coaches over the years, I’d like to share some of those experiences and go into coaching. I’ve got most of my badges.
“I personally don’t think they should matter because in terms of everything I’ve been taught, the biggest thing for me is coaches getting the best out of players and I want to remember what I felt like in those moments and get that across. I’ve been in their shoes.”
He certainly has. Williams went from being 300 feet off the ground above a blast furnace to becoming one of Wales’ greatest full-backs.
In his own words, going from scaffolding to rugby was simply a case of “now or never”.
“I had to make it,” he says, frankly. “It was pretty easy for me to work my nuts off for a few years and I was lucky enough to take my chances when they came.”
That’s a solid perspective for any coach when it comes to nurturing any young talent, especially in an age when it’s so easy to slip through the cracks.
A month ago, Williams was announcing his retirement – an emotional video on social media signposting that the time was right. That final spell at Newcastle came after a stint with Saracens and some time in Japan.
In recent years, Williams’ home has pretty much been wherever he’s laid his head. That’s not always easy with a young family.
“It’s been hectic,” he admits. “But it’s been all I’ve ever really known.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way. That said, even with the coaching, I now get a lot of time to spend with my family.
“Previously, I’d come home from training knackered. Now, we go out and do things. I’ll take my son swimming or to the park.
“That was also quite a tough part, being up north with no help for my wife. They were long days looking after the baby and the dog.
“Now, being where we are, our family can help out. It’s nice to be back home in Wales with that support network. I’m still busy, but a better version of being busy.”
Williams and his wife Sophie welcomed their son, Leo, back in November 2024. Now 16 months old, Williams says Leo, who he describes as “non-stop”, was part of the reason behind his decision to retire.
“He’s flying around the place now,” he says. “I have to be fit enough to chase him and kick a ball around the park. It was definitely time to call it a day.
“I just couldn’t run. I took a knock against Leicester and my knee was huge.
“We tried everything we could over the space of three months. I did get back to having a run, but as soon I ran, I couldn’t walk for the next three days.
“I’d get home and my wife would ask if I wanted to go for a walk with the dog and my baby, but I couldn’t. Life outside of rugby was a big part of the call to say that’s enough.”
Having made that call, he’s mentoring some of the Scarlets’ young talent and taking the tentative steps into what will hopefully be his next vocation.
Nigel Davies, back at the Scarlets as interim director of rugby, was the man who gave Williams his break in professional rugby. Now, he’s giving him his first chance in coaching.
It’s funny how things come full circle. Those down at Parc y Scarlets in recent weeks might have even noticed Williams in the coaching box, still as enthusiastic as ever if slightly removed from the action.
“Nige has had me in the coaches’ box, which has been a bit strange,” he admits. “It’s been good to see the other side of it.
“My first day was in on the Monday and they had a coaches’ selection meeting. I had my own little table in the coaches’ office – it was good.
“Just being sat on the other side of it is a good experience. Hearing the inputs on why this player should be playing. It’s something I want to get into, coaching. So these past few weeks have been a good experience.”
In particular, Williams has been working closely with Callum Woolley. There’s genuine excitement around the 20-year-old down west.
The GB 7s star made his debut for the Scarlets against the Bulls on the weekend, scoring within minutes.
“He’s keen to learn,” says Williams. “He’s always asking questions.
“He’s quite raw. From what I’ve been told, he’s only been playing four or five years. He’s quite new to it all.
“But he’s got all the attributes to be another George North. He’s 6ft 4.
“When Nige spoke to me, he said he’s got the speed of Louis Rees-Zammit. If he has, he’s got everything he needs.
“He’s so keen to learn. He’s texting me all the time, asking if I’ve got any clips and wanting stuff to go through. It’s good.”
Mentoring is clearly something Williams enjoys, with his rugby and life experiences second to few. But, unsurprisingly for the man so long described as the ‘bomb defuser’, looking after the aerial and kicking game is perhaps where Williams’ future lies.
“Especially with the way the game is now, with the aerial stuff being huge, kicking strategy is something I’d like to do,” he admits.
At Newcastle, Williams had already taken on some responsibility for the kicking strategy, while he’s offering a similar output at the Scarlets.
Given the problems the Scarlets gave the Bulls on the weekend with their long kicking game, Williams clearly has an eye for it.
Warren Gatland, naturally having been at the helm for the majority of Williams’ caps, is one obvious influence. The New Zealander “knew how to get the best out of every player individually and how to make them tick”.
But Neil Jenkins is just as influential.
“I had a great relationship with Neil, he had the sort of traits I’d like to instil,” he says.
“Obviously Dan (Biggar) and Leigh (Halfpenny) worked closer with Neil than me, but I did a lot with him around the aerial stuff. Towards the end, he’d leave some of it to me, which was nice.
“He knew people on a level where he could speak to them as equals.
“He’d ask them questions and wouldn’t just tell people what to do. That’s what I’d like my coaching to be like.”
For now, Williams is just focused on finishing his first little spell of coaching. The time, a little later down the line, will come to reflect on a “whirlwind” of a career.
One filled with undoubtedly more highs than lows.
“I still go back sometimes and think about the good times, reminiscing and looking at photos,” he says. “I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet. I think it could be six months down the line when it hits me.”
By then, Williams might just be a little bit further along in the next chapter of his life in rugby.
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