Advertisement

Talent called in to train by Gatland offers Wales glimpse as Shane hits nail on the head

-Credit: (Image: Getty Images)
-Credit: (Image: Getty Images)


"The game's done," said Ospreys coach Toby Booth afterwards, speaking about his side's final try in their Challenge Cup win over the Lions.

"To see that moment, Lukey Dai (Luke Davies) puts the pressure on him, Jac (Morgan) creates the issue and obviously Dan Edwards is the beneficiary."

The man in the middle of that passage, Ospreys captain Morgan, is the one who receives the majority of the plaudits. As Booth searches for the words to describe his man-of-the-match performance, he repeats "unbelievable" twice.

READ MORE: Tonight's rugby news as coach stunned by 'unbelievable' Welsh leader and 12 clubs join RFU revolt

READ MORE: Welsh rugby's winners and losers as exiled prop shows Gatland what he's missing

"That is a guy who is committed, has got world-class attributes and world-class effort to match," he adds.

But the "beneficiary" of Morgan's big hit, that dislodged the ball out of Lions scrum-half Nico Steyn's hands, didn't exactly have a walk-in ahead of him.

Cutting a sharp line onto Davies' pass, Edwards steps two men off his left foot, each one with such speed and agility that it's all he can do not to lose his footing each time.

But he doesn't, instead dotting down out wide to complete the victory for the Ospreys. It capped a fine second-half display for Edwards.

The 21-year-old played his part in Keelan Giles' score too, shifting the ball wide to help get the winger over in the corner.

The pair are at different points of their career. Edwards is very much at the start of his, while Giles - although some have been curtailed by injury - is now into his ninth campaign with the Ospreys.

Both have had flirtations with Wales this season. Giles, still uncapped despite Wales call-ups in 2016 and 2017, made the squad for the summer tour this year, only to miss out with a groin injury.

As for Edwards, he was tipped for a call-up in the autumn. That didn't materialise, but he was offered an invite to train with Warren Gatland's senior side - however, he unable to attend as he was undergoing HIA protocols.

Get the latest breaking news sent directly to your phone with our free WhatsApp service here.

At the age of 26, who knows how many more chances Giles will get. However, performances like Sunday's will keep him in the picture.

There's some decent personnel out wide, with Josh Adams back from injury and Rio Dyer having shown signs of finding his form after being dropped at the start of the autumn. Tom Rogers showed his Test credentials, while Josh Hathaway is still in the picture.

You've also got Mason Grady when back fit, while Regan Grace is someone the Wales coaches will probably want another look at after bringing him to Australia in the summer.

Having waited seven years for another call-up though, Giles will know all he can do is keep producing the goods for the Ospreys.

As for Edwards, it seems like just a matter of time before he's making Wales squads. Whether that's the Six Nations remains to be seen, given - as Gatland noted after the autumn - the need for results compared to other times of the year.

But, the Wales coach did also lament the lack of fly-halves in Welsh rugby at the minute. Don't be surprised if he sees fit to call him up.

"The only way you can work out whether [young players] are ready or not is to actually play them," said Shane Williams on punditry duty. "[Edwards] came off the bench today and he was very positive when he came on, he sped the game up as well.

"He's a very direct 10 and obviously very confident as well, especially the way he took his try. He's scored some cracking tries for the Ospreys over the years.

"He's a player that you'd like to think will get more game-time and perhaps one day he'll get the opportunity to wear that red jersey."