Quote ="sergeant pepper"Because he has to do more when he plays with Smith. You speak as if Smith and Williams don't link up at all. Williams would have been more comfortable playing alongside Green than he has been with Smith.
Instead of positions think about it as roles. Someone had to come in this year and take over the Green role (main attacking pivot) Hampshire for me was more suited to that.
Williams, imo, has the potential to be a better version of Smith but will still need, as Smith does, a 'Green' outside him.'"
As Last Son of Wigan says, it's not about who is 6 or 7 as they are expected to play left side and right side - acting as first or second receiver depending on which side of the pitch they play on.
Obviously the partnership is still important though. You still can't stick any two halves in a team and expect them to perform well. In that case it's still isn't an issue with who is playing 6 and who is playing 7 and someone being out of position, it's just whether the two halves compliment each other well.
With split halves players also sometimes show themselves to be much stronger on one side of the pitch than the other which also has to be considered. Paul Deacon played a few games on the right for us under Maguire but our right side attack was stifled because his passing from left to right was poor. Our left side was much more effective and it didn't matter too much because we attacked mostly from right to left anyway.
We don't miss Green's running game with Williams in the halves because he's the closest we have to Green in that respect. Williams has already shown some good running rugby and will only improve. Green used to like taking on a half gap and looking for an offload, which is something Williams does brilliantly. Hampshire has always been a better ball player though, so he has a passing game that is closer to Green's, but he lacks the physical aspect needed to play how Green did. That isn't to say Williams has a bad passing game - his assist for Burgess on Thursday shows that he's got the skills, he just needs to be more consistent and that should come with time.
Both Hampshire and Williams have their strengths and weaknesses and it's just a case of trying to give one of them the consistency that a young half needs to improve. Williams has shown some steady improvement which is very good. Hampshire is also a talented player but I think his lack of physicality will make Wane wary of playing him week after week in the halves, which is what is required. Williams is a tough player and one of the best defenders I've seen for his size, age and the position he plays. That toughness is important and will be one of the reasons why Wane was more comfortable to pick him as first choice. Hampshire suffered a dislocated shoulder last season and gets a bit of a battering at times when tackled. I can understand Wane being cautious and thinking fullback might be a better place for him to play right now.
Powell shouldn't be forgotten too. He's a very talented player and a good passer who seems capable of playing both right and left side. I think he's more effective on the right hand side though and that's raises the issue of him not being good enough to replace Smith. I think he's a much better passer but his kicking game really lets him down. It's the kicking game that Smith possesses which makes him almost irreplaceable at the moment. Powell lacks pace too and his reluctance to take the line on would put more pressure on Smith, who can do that, but it's not his natural game. I think the problem with Powell is that giving him consistency in the halves might mean we lose either Hampshire or Williams and I think both have far more potential. Still he's only 22 so I can see why he's been given a new contract as he had so much potential as a teenager.
