RISING star Mike Williams says he feels more at home in the back row as he continues to play an integral role in Worcester Warriors’ fight for survival
The 22-year-old has been a revelation this season and he did not take long to establish himself as one of director of rugby Dean Ryan’s first-choice locks following his summer move from South African outfit Blue Bulls
Williams continued to battle it out with Mariano Galarza, James Percival and Dean Schofield for a place in the second row during the first half of the season
But once Ryan made the decision to switch him to flanker in February, Williams appears to have come into his own as he has pulled off a string of outstanding showings
And the versatile forward told the Observer he was determined to keep putting his body on the line in the number six jersey
“I could not have asked for a better year personally,” he said
“Obviously I am disappointed by the way the results have gone as a team, but I am very happy with the way I have played so far and I would like to keep it up until the end of the season
“Before I came over here I played in the back row at the Bulls, so it was nothing new to me
“I still had to adjust my game quite a bit, but I feel like I am fitting in pretty well and I would like to say that I am performing the best I have all season in the back row
“It has given me a lot more opportunities to get my hands on the ball and make more tackles which suits my game
”
It has not gone all Williams’ way this season, though, as he found himself forced down the pecking when Galarza joined the club and Percival returned from injury in December
But he believed his brief time away from first team action helped him re-charge his batteries and he said he was now focused on doing all he can to help Worcester avoid relegation
“I started pretty much the first half of the season until one of the first games away in France when I was told I was going to be rested,” he said
“I obviously wanted to carry on playing, but I had been playing a lot, so I realised it was going to be good for my body to have a rest and luckily for me there were one or two injuries that helped me get back into a starting jersey, which I am really enjoying and I just hope we can now turn things around
”