The record-breaking Welsh wing retired from international rugby in December 2011 but will line-up for the Lions against ACT Brumbies tomorrow.
Williams was in bed on Saturday night trying to get to sleep having played a club game in Japan when the phone rang in his hotel room.
It was his former Wales team mate, and coach, Rob Howley. ‘Can you play for the British & Irish Lions on Tuesday?’ was the question.
And having toured twice with the Lions and scored eight tries in 13 matches, the answer was never in doubt.
“Rob phoned me in my hotel room at about 11pm on Saturday night asking if I would help out the Lions by playing on Tuesday. There was no way I was going to say no,” said Williams, who was already due to travel to Brisbane to work as a summariser for talkSport.
“I’m happy to be here and I’m enjoying myself. Four years ago in Johannesburg was a great day for me and the Lions. It was unfortunate we lost the series, but I came off that field immensely proud thinking that was the last time I’d wear the Lions jersey – and I’ve thought that for the last four years.
“To be given this opportunity again is really a dream come true – and completely out of the blue. I knew nothing about it.
“I appreciate the Lions have had a lot of injuries during this tough tour so far and if me playing tomorrow helps the Lions to recover, and do whatever it is best to prepare for Saturday and win that game, then I am very proud to be a part of it.”
Williams met and trained with his new teammates at the North Sydney Oval this morning. With Jamie Roberts, George North, Brian O’Driscoll and Manu Tuilagi all nursing injuries, Williams is the third emergency recruit, along with England duo Christian Wade and Brad Barritt, who will spend the day playing catch up.
The 36-year-old Welsh legend admits it will be a difficult task but he is well aware that there is an unbeaten tour record to protect.
“If training is anything to go by this is going to be a very difficult exercise. We’ve got to learn all the new calls, but we are professional rugby players and we’ve played alongside the majority of these players before,” said Williams.
“We have to do our homework tonight to make sure we are mentally prepared for this game because we don’t want to let anyone down. We want to give 100 per cent and we don’t want to let ourselves or anyone else down.
“My last game was on Saturday in 35 degrees, although it was not at the same standard of tomorrow night’s game. But I have kept fit and I’ve worked just as hard in Japan as I have throughout my rugby career.
“Hopefully, it is not going to be too much of a shock to the system. I have played enough professional and international level games to know what to expect tomorrow and if I felt for one second I wasn’t going to be ready or good enough I would have told Rob Howley where to stick it.
“To begin with it is all about communication. It is not going to click straightaway – it is about learning the calls, understanding the patterns and finding out how players play.
“It won’t come together straightaway, and it didn’t in training, but slowly as the training session went on we spoke a bit more and we were more comfortable together. It is going to be intense tomorrow, but we are going to work as hard as we can in the next 24 hours to make sure we are ready to do the job.”
Lions team vs Brumbies: Rob Kearney, Christian Wade, Brad Barritt, Billy Twelvetrees, Shane Williams, Stuart Hogg, Ben Youngs; Ryan Grant, Rory Best (capt), Matt Stevens, Ian Evans, Richie Gray, Sean O’Brien, Justin Tipuric, Toby Faletau.
Replacements: Richard Hibbard, Alex Corbisiero, Dan Cole, Geoff Parling, Dan Lydiate, Conor Murray, Owen Farrell, Simon Zebo.
