Biarritz wary of Williams

Biarritz Olympique v Ospreys:BIARRITZ ARE wary of falling under the spell of Ospreys wing wizard Shane Williams in today's Heineken Cup quarter-final clash. Coach John Isaacs has identified Wales's record international try-scorer as a major threat to his team's victory hopes at Estadio Anoeta in San Sebastian.

And he believes 33-year-old Williams is “on a different level” to Biarritz’s own potential match-winner Takudza Ngwenya, who terrified opponents at the 2007 World Cup with his blistering pace for the United States.

Williams, fit again following a shoulder problem, scored tries in three of Wales’ Six Nations games this season, including a 50th for his country against eventual Grand Slam winners France.

And Isaacs admitted: “Shane is capable of making the difference with his actions. He comes alive on the pitch in open play and is a dangerous, big game player.

“We have to be careful about giving him loose ball and make sure our kick-chase is good. We will have to keep the ball away from him as much as we can.”

Williams is set to directly oppose the dangerous Ngwenya, but Isaacs added: “It will be a good battle, but Shane is on a different level to Takudzwa.

“Shane has good rugby knowledge, and although Takudzwa is a formidable finisher, he is less intuitive than Shane as he is reasonably new to the game. But he can be a match-winner.

“But we can’t just worry about Shane. The Ospreys are very strong, and James Hook and Mike Phillips are also dangerous players.

“Our defence will have to be strong. We will have to do the basics well, make our tackles and ensure we don’t turnover the ball.”

The Ospreys arrived in northern Spain aiming to go one better than during their past two European campaigns. The star-studded Welsh region were quarter-finalists in 2008 and 2009, but lost out to Saracens and Munster respectively.

They now, though, have the lure of a semi-final in Wales next month against Munster or Northampton.

“It’s going to be tough, but this is the quarter-final of Europe, it is where we set out to be last summer and it is where we are,” said Ospreys captain Ryan Jones.

“It is going to be noisy, it’s going to be colourful and there will be a very partisan crowd there, but we’ve just got to go and enjoy it.

“We’ve got a lot of experienced players who have played on the big stage and are used to these environments, so it’s just about going there, playing and getting our own house in order.”

Jones leads a team of 15 internationals, including former New Zealand Test flankers Jerry Collins and Marty Holah, while Dan Biggar fills the crucial fly-half role.

BIARRITZ:I Balshaw, T Ngwenya, K Hunt, D Traille, I Bolakoro, J Peyrelongue, D Yachvili, E Coetzee, B August, C Johnstone, J Thion capt, M Carizza, W Lauret, I Harinordoquy, F Faure. Replacements:R Terrain, F Barcella, R Hugues, T Hall, F Alexandre, V Courrent, A Mignardi, J Gobelet.

OSPREYS:L Byrne, T Bowe, A Bishop, J Hook, S Williams, D Biggar, M Phillips, P James, H Bennett, A Jones, A Jones, J Thomas, J Collins, M Holah, R Jones, capt. Replacements:E Shervington, R Bevington, C Mitchell, I Gough, F Tiatia, J Nutbrown, S Parker, N Walker.

Referee:George Clancy (Ireland).