Owen Williams is not the biggest name to have deserted Welsh rugby. Far from it. He isn't even the biggest star to leave Scarlets. Last summer George North headed for Northampton and at the end of the season Jonathan Davies, another of the Lions who had a huge part in the series win in Australia, is off to Clermont. Big moves both, but neither got a frostier farewell from the Llanelli club when they announced they were off.
Put plainly, Scarlets were pretty sore when they announced in March that their young fly-half was on his way. You could almost hear the gritted teeth as head coach Simon Easterby wished the 21-year-old all the best at Leicester. "Of course, Owen goes with our best wishes," said Easterby before adding: "We'd like to be clear that we had discussed a new contract with him, and made his representative fully aware of our willingness to discuss securing his future as a rugby professional with us. Unfortunately, this sudden move came to us with no warning or discussion and is a surprise to us in the context of what we would consider to be in the best interests for Owen."
Anyone at Welford Road last Saturday would have understood where Easterby was coming from. Within two minutes against Sale, Williams had made a try – chipping the Sale defence, making a break and then off-loading to Ed Slater – and had a perfect afternoon with the boot, landing six from six. If Leicester were missing Toby Flood, it did not show. Ryan Lamb, an England Saxon and veteran of nine seasons in the Premiership, was kept warming the replacements' bench as Williams underlined what Easterby had clearly suspected: yet another talent had been lost to Welsh rugby.
Williams will be on the bench today as Flood, the most experienced player in the current England squad, returns from injury, but in the coming months is expected to play a key role as the champions attempt to retain their crown. He was brought in to fill the gap left by the departure of George Ford for Bath – Leicester's opponents on Sunday – when Ford tired of playing second fiddle to the man he could well replace in the England team when Flood moves to France in the summer, probably to Toulouse, although that is yet to be confirmed.
That leaves Williams to mind the fort until a Flood replacement – possibly his old Scarlets club-mate Rhys Priestland, or Freddie Burns of Gloucester – arrives; certainly for the couple of months when Flood is away with England's Six Nations squad.
It is a prospect which thrills Williams, who started playing with the Ystradgynlais club, represented the Ospreys through age-grade rugby and was in the final season of a three-year development contract with Scarlets when Leicester swooped having suffered Williams's talents as the fly-half steered the side from Llanelli to a 40-19 victory while landing seven penalties in the LV Cup last season. "That's when he came to our attention," said Leicester's director of rugby, Richard Cockerill, this week after acknowledging the quality of Williams's performance against Sale. "That's when he kicked every bleeding point."
Williams remembers the day with clarity. "It was my second proper start in the LV and against a great team," he says, before outlining how Leicester got in touch. "One of the boys at the Scarlets said his agent had said Tigers were interested. A couple of week later Simon Cohen [Leicester's chief executive] got in touch.
"I was thrilled, it was nice, but to be honest it did take a few weeks for me to make up my mind. I spoke to guys, like Mefin Davies [the former Wales hooker] who had played at Leicester, and he had great things to say about the club."
So Williams signed, securing his future at least for a couple of years when many of the players he left behind are deeply worried about theirs. The day we met, the Welsh regions and the WRU declared civil war and while Williams did not know the details at the time, he knew enough to understand the threat to Scarlets and all the other regions, especially with football pulling in the crowds at Cardiff as well as Swansea.
"It needs to be resolved. It's been going on for too long and its doing the players in," Williams says. "They don't know who they want to play for. Guys coming up to the end of their contracts have to make big decisions.
"The football is also having a big effect. People want to see Manchester United and Chelsea and you can't blame them. The regions are struggling to get crowds."
With Leicester playing to full houses most weeks, the attraction to a 21 year old is obvious, no matter that a big-name fly-half is likely to arrive at Welford Road sooner rather than later.
"It doesn't matter who they bring in, I have just got to show what I can do and push whoever comes," says Williams. "I suppose now when I get opportunities, like Floody going with England, I've got to step up take every opportunity to show the coaches what I can do.""They," the friends and former Scarlet and Osprey team-mates with whom Williams still keep in touch "are just waiting to see what happens. I haven't got to worry about that for a few years."
