Danny Wilson has praised stand-in captain, Lloyd Williams, for his recent form and leadership qualities.
Williams, who has 135 Cardiff Blues appearances to his name since his debut in 2010, has lead his side out in the past three Guinness PRO12 fixtures, in the absence of Gethin Jenkins and Sam Warburton.
Last week, the scrum-half played a key role in creating space for Sion Bennett’s try, before touching down for the match-winning score in the 18-17 victory at Edinburgh, and Wilson believes his recent performances has highlighted his abilities of leading by example.
“Lloyd has been outstanding. We've made him captain over the past few weeks with Gethin not being available and Sam away with Wales, and Lloyd has all the credentials to be a captain,” said Wilson.
“He's a good leader, he’s very well respected within the group and as a half-back he has a big say in the control of the game.
“In the last couple of games he’s been excellent for us, mixing his kicking game and running game well, setting up the try to bring us back into the game, and eventually won the game on Friday night.
“I’ve been really pleased with him, and I know he was a little bit disappointed with his form earlier in the season, but he’s added a bit of spark back into his game. With Lloyd it all comes from hard work. He’s a hard-working pro and deserves what he gets in terms of recent performances being that much better.”
Williams has been competing for the number nine jersey at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park alongside Tomos Williams, Pele Cowley and Wales Under-20’s Dane Blacker.
Head coach, Wilson, is delighted to see the strength in depth available at scrum-half, and believes competition for places at the Blues is vital in order to compete over the course of the season.
“We’re luck as well to have Tomos Williams sitting underneath him, putting on the pressure and that’s what we need here at Cardiff Blues is at least two players of quality in each position, that are fit to put the pressure on. I think we showed at the start of the season that when we got that we can beat anyone.
“Generally, this season, we’ve been unlucky with the number of injuries at key times and we’ve lost a bit of competition within the squad. But Lloyd and Tomos certainly put the competitive nature into that position, with another couple of boys underneath them as well, and that has helped Lloyd really kick on.”
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