Liam Williams' life changes forever and he now has a new job with Wales team
Wales full-back Liam Williams has opened up on how his life has changed since having a child, with his role within Wales camp having also altered as he prepares to make his Test return this weekend.
The Saracens star missed the autumn due to club commitments in Japan, having also missed last year's Six Nations. But, following his return to the Gallagher Premiership club, the 92-cap international finds himself back in Warren Gatland's plans for the Six Nations.
The main driving force for his move away from Japan was the birth of his first child, with wife Sophie giving birth to a baby boy, Leo Teddy James Williams, last November.
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“Things have changed, definitely with the sleep," said Williams this week. "Things are good.
"They moved up with me to London for two or three weeks before we came back down here so it was nice having them up there. Over Christmas I was going back and forth so driving up and back two or three times a week was a bit of a trek.
"He is great, it is just an incredible feeling to become a Dad."
After a year in a new environment in Japan, a return to the Welsh fold and Saracens has offered Williams a fairly large dollop of familiarity as he takes his fledgling steps into parenthood.
“Not much has changed (at Saracens), they still have the same calls as when I was there five or six years ago," he said. "I am enjoying helping a couple of the younger guys. It has been good to go to a bit of a different environment to Japan. I am enjoying my rugby again."
It's a similar story with Wales camp, even if he finds himself back in a Welsh side that has lost their last 12 Test matches. Williams has only been present for four of those, but he's looking forward to trying to turn Wales' fortunes around on the pitch.
“There is a great energy here in camp," he added. "The boys are feeling good, the training has gone well and we are excited to go out there.
"Our backs are against the wall but we don’t mind that all. The boys are looking forward to it."
Perhaps fittingly for a new father, Williams' role in the Wales squad has changed slightly. Even his role on committees is different now.
Having "taken a back seat" on entertainment, he's now in charge of fines - "trying to keep everyone in line". He's also serving as something of a mentor for the younger back-three players in camp.
"I feel it is a role that I like to do and it’s the same when I am back with my club. I am speaking with these guys, not always about rugby stuff, but off field stuff as well and I’d told them ‘if you have any questions that you would like to chat about anything, I am here and happy to chat’."
He admits a recent photo online of a young Josh Hathaway meeting his Scarlets idol back when Williams was plying his trade in Llanelli makes him "feel old", while Ellis Mee and Blair Murray have "impressed" the 33-year-old.
"Those two have been great," he added. "Blair was here during the autumn and he has been playing well for Scarlets and tearing it up.
"Ellis is a young kid who is quite raw but if he gets more Scarlets game time he is going to be world-class and that is just a matter of time. He just needs to get some more game time under his belt.”
That said, Williams isn't ready to give up his jersey just yet. "I think I've got a couple of years left, to be honest with you."
The 2027 World Cup, he admits, "might be a bit too far". But there are other targets for Williams with Wales.
"My aim is to get 100 caps for Wales and if that happens it is the icing on the cake and if it doesn’t then it doesn't that is just the way it is," he said. "But that’s my aim.
"For me, now it’s about taking every game as it comes. Hopefully, I’ll be picked for this weekend and that’d be another one, so yeah, we’ll see."
Having been in and out of the fold in the last year, with his club commitments in Japan, Williams could be forgiven for thinking that - like so many of his generation that have moved on in the last year - his Test career was coming to an end. However, that was never the case.
“No," he said when asked if he feared it was ever over. "I have been speaking to Gats and he has been my coach for the last 12 or 13 years.
"We spoke post-Australia what the plans are for the next couple of years. I am just happy to be here and hopefully I can add something to the team and play on the weekend depending on whether I am picked, try and add something extra and win with the boys."
100 caps is next on the bucket list, although, if the Six Nations goes well, a third Lions tour could come first for Williams.
"It's one game and one thing at a time at the moment," he said. "Obviously, it would be a dream to make that squad, but for me it’s about trying to play for Wales and if I get the chance to play well and try to get some wins. That’s my aim at the moment."
