The last try but by no means the least!

This afternoon I eagerly watched the friendly rugby union match between Wales and Australia. There was a lot of pre-match hype because one of Wales’s favourite sons, Shane Williams, was winning his 87th and last cap for his nation. A rather nervy and drab first half saw the two teams at 6-3. A costly second-half sin-binning for Leigh Halfpenny led to a three-try bonanza for Australia, who went on to win the match by a comfortable 24 to 18 margin. Frustratingly, Shane Williams – the main reason I was watching – rarely sniffed the tryline throughout the match but then, in the 81st minute, into injury time, he scored a lovely try. It was a fairytale ending to a glittering and throughly entertaining career, as this link to ten of his tries graphically illustrates. His presence in a line-up always gave a thrill of anticipation. He will be missed on the international stage.