The 27-year-old hasn’t been involved in the national team setup for two years but Steve Tandy could offer a clean slateKeiran Williams in action for the Ospreys(Image: Chris Fairweather/Huw Evans Agency)

Keiran Williams has been tipped for a Wales recall as Steve Tandy wipes the slate clean ahead of naming his autumn squad later this month.

The Ospreys centre has won just one Test cap, having been brought on as a replacement in a World Cup warm-up against England two years ago. However, those 21 minutes remain his only Test exposure after Warren Gatland sold shares in the hard-carrying midfielder after that Twickenham clash.

Gatland never really settled on a midfield combination during his ill-fated second stint in charge of the national team, but Williams only ever had the one crack at forcing his way in.

There was more good than bad in Williams’ performance, but Gatland was more focused on what hadn’t gone well.

One carry away from support from a kick-off was highlighted by Gatland afterwards, with the head coach saying that they had “found out about a few people today”.

In all honesty, Gatland was never one for changing his mind on selection on the basis of public opinion. Often, it seemed like the greater the clamour for a call-up, the more stubborn he was in resisting. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.

Tandy may well follow suit in terms of calling Williams up, but the promising sign for the 27-year-old is how open the new head coach would appear to be ahead of naming his first squad.

“Not so much Keiran individually, but I just feel like Steve’s very open-minded about getting to know Welsh players in general,” explained Ospreys head coach Mark Jones. “He will have seen them when playing Scottish teams when he’s been preparing their national team.

“What he’s able to do now is ask the coaches their views on these players. Who might suit his way of playing and the kind of athletes he wants. Steve was down today to watch training and get a feel for who’s doing what.

“He’s asking about different players already that are not in and around national selection, so Steve’s very open-minded based on what I’ve seen and the conversations that we’re having.”

And were Tandy to ask about Williams, he’d only hear good things from his club coaches – after a solid start to the season saw him dot down twice in Pretoria against the Bulls. Join WalesOnline Rugby’s WhatsApp Channel here to get the breaking news sent straight to your phone for free

“He’s great,” added Jones. “What I like about Keiran is we’ve seen a fair bit of growth in his game over the last two seasons.

“We know what his points of difference are, a very abrasive ball-carrier. Gets over the gainline well. Repeats that work heavily in games.

“He’s not a once every ten minutes carrier. He’s once every 10 seconds. He’s very dynamic, repeatable and durable.

“What I have been impressed with is we’ve seen a lot more of the subtleties of his game. His passing game, being able to get the ball more to the edge for us as a team.

“He keeps defenders honest around squaring up the attack. We’ve definitely seen growth in that area, and then defensively there’s been huge improvements as well.

“I’ve been really impressed with Keiran and how’s he grown. He’s put a lot of work into areas of his game. You’re never going to see it every time.

“That’s impossible. But rugby supporters and watchers can definitely see the growth in him.” Get the latest breaking Welsh rugby news stories sent straight to your inbox with our FREE daily newsletter. Sign up here.

The man himself still dreams of wearing the red jersey, having had the briefest of times in that environment.

“Of course, it’s always in the back of your mind,” said Williams. “It’s always something you want to do.

“I’ve had that cap now. I’ve had the thirst for it.

“I’d love to add to my tally of one cap. If it happens, it happens.

“I’m solely focused on playing for the Ospreys and playing as well as possible. As a player, you always want to be known as a consistent player.

“Hopefully this year I can take the things I need to better at to another level. That’s probably the attacking side of the ball.

“Being a lot more solid defensively too, after I let myself down last week. If I continue to get better in that aspect and improve in attack, that helps me to become a better and more rounded player.

“If I reap the reward of being able to play for my country again, that’s fantastic. But my sole focus is on playing for the Ospreys and whatever happens, happens.”