-Credit:S4C
Shane Williams believes young Ospreys playmaker Dan Edwards couldn’t have done more to impress the Wales selectors ahead of tomorrow’s Six Nations squad announcement.
Despite being in excellent form over the past 18 months, the 21-year-old has yet to win his first senior international cap, but the Ospreys man is a strong bet to be included in Warren Gatland’s squad.
Sam Costelow injured his shoulder in the Scarlets’ 31-7 defeat to Gloucester on Friday night, while experienced Gloucester number 10 Gareth Anscombe is also a doubt with a knee injury.
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Edwards looks to be in pole position after a strong performance in the Ospreys’ 35-15 Challenge Cup victory over Newcastle Falcons. “Unfortunately it helps him (Edwards) that Sam Costelow got injured,” Williams told S4C.
“He did well tonight. He was under pressure from the start because we were all talking about him before kick-off.
“I thought he was very tidy. He was organising things, was controlling the game right throughout and was safe under the high ball.
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“He made a few mistakes but every time he made a mistake he picked his head up and made something positive after it. The pass (for the try) was perfect because it put (Jack) Walsh just in front of the defenders which helped him go around the corner to score a try.
“He did very very well today and he would have been pleased Neil Jenkins was there to watch him play.”
Edwards kicked 10 points, while his vision and distribution put his team-mates into space.
But former Wales Women outside-half Elinor Snowsill believes Edwards needs to learn to control the game a little bit better.
“At times he struggled to control the game a little bit, especially at the start of both halves but that was because the Ospreys weren’t going through the phases,” she told S4C.
“They were kicking the ball away a lot in the first and second phase. But some 20 minutes before the end of the game, that’s when they started to go through the phases, keep the ball and force Newcastle to give the penalty away. They then went to the corner and that’s where we saw their game come alive.”