But pint-sized sensation Shane Williams admits he is struggling to come to terms with his re-found fame after his meteoric rise Down Under.
The wing wizard was as one of the stars of the tournament after emerging from international exile as the tormentor of the All Blacks.
It capped a dramatic comeback for Williams after two years in the wilderness and he admitted he was awestruck by the adoration on his arrival home.
“It’s really weird because you don’t see what it’ like back home when you are 12,000 miles away,” he said.
“You don’t hear much about things out there but to come back to a reception like this was brilliant. It is something I just did not expect.”
It was a fairytale World Cup for Williams who was a last-minute inclusion in Steve Hansen’s squad having appeared a million miles from Australia just months before.
But after missing the opening games with flu, the flying wing was given the chance to shine on the world stage against the mighty All Blacks.
“Steve congratulated me and told me I had proved a lot of people wrong and I had taken my chance,” said Williams.
“That’s all I wanted to hear from him and I am glad I was given the opportunity because he did not have to play me against New Zealand.
“I wanted the chance because it was a frustrating couple of weeks and I wanted to get on the field. Everybody seemed to be enjoying it so much and I was not getting any of the action.
“It was daunting to play against New Zealand in a game that big but it proved to be an awesome experience.
“We just wanted to express ourselves as we knew we had players who could play rugby but the style we played in was a shock to me.”
However Williams was philosophical about his sudden rise having found himself the darling of Welsh rugby before.
The Neath wing burst onto the Test scene as a baby-faced 23-year-old during the 2000 Six Nations and went on to score ten tries in his first ten appearances.
But at 5ft 7in it was feared that he was too small for international rugby and it was not until two years later – in a friendly against minnows Romania last August – that he pulled on the red jersey again.
“I realise now how young I was when all this happened last time, how little I knew about everything and how much I have grown up since,” he said.
“It was a wonderful time and all pretty chaotic but I wouldn’t change a thing.
“It’s great that the team played well at the World Cup but also that I have reminded a few people that Shane Williams is still around.”
