Keelan Giles burst onto the Welsh rugby scene and seemed destined for remarkable things before injuries derailed his career
The last time Wales played Japan, before this summer’s tour, seems like a lifetime ago.
Sam Davies calmly slotting over the winning drop-goal, Dan Lydiate crossing for his only Wales try, Leigh Halfpenny on the wing with Liam Williams in the 15 jersey. It’s only nine years ago, but that 2016 clash with the Brave Blossoms in Cardiff just feels like it’s consigned to a distant time – a time capsule of sorts.
Certainly, a last-gasp victory for an out-of-sort, mix-and-match Wales side against Japan seems like a luxury now.
Nine years have passed. With it, Welsh rugby rose for a while – reaching the highest summit in the rankings for a brief moment – then plummeted to uncharted territory at an alarming rate.
Nine years. Just less than a decade from plans being hatched to conquer the world to Wales falling off the face of the planet.
That summer, in 2016, Warren Gatland sat down with Rob Howley, the then-Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Martyn Phillips and then-head of rugby performance Geraint John to formulate a path towards World Cup success in 2019.
Somewhere else in that Wellington hotel, a young Keelan Giles – just 18 at the time and without a senior appearance for the Ospreys – was likely overcoming jet-lag after flying in to Hamilton from the U20s’ World Championship in Manchester to provide injury cover for Wales.
The future was his. Yet, for Giles, the last nine years must have felt like an eternal wait when it comes to that elusive Welsh cap. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack for the exclusive five-week tour diary from Japan and Australia.
“If there’s anybody, same as Liam Belcher last week, who deserves a cap, it’s Keelan Giles,” said Wales interim head coach Matt Sherratt this week, after handing the now-27-year-old another shot at that first Test appearance with a bench spot against Japan in Kobe this weekend.
Earlier in 2016, the young wing had been an electrifying part of the age-grade side that won the U20s Six Nations. After his time in New Zealand with the senior side – with no Test cap coming his way there – September of that year saw him make his debut for the Ospreys.
Within minutes of coming on as a replacement against Benetton Treviso, he had crossed for his first score. By the time the autumn internationals rolled around that November, he had eight tries in five matches and was being billed as Welsh rugby’s next big thing.
Despite that, he missed out on the initial squad – only to be called in again as injury cover. That Japan clash in 2016, when Giles was named among the replacements, remained his best chance to date of getting onto the pitch in a Welsh jersey.
Despite the excitement surrounding him, he remained, agonisingly, on the bench. The following summer saw him tour Tonga and Samoa, but still no cap came his way.
Then, injuries took hold. His first serious knee injury in 2017 required reconstruction, keeping him out for a year.
Then, in 2019, he suffered knee ligament damage in the other knee. That one robbed him of 450 days of rugby.
He’s also had to have his hamstring ‘tightened’, which doesn’t exactly sound helpful to a rugby player. Still, he’s persevered.
A strong run of form last season saw him picked by Gatland to tour Australia, only for injury to once again deny him before the plane had even left the tarmac.
Now, in Kobe’s Noevir Stadium on Saturday, Giles will once again – after nearly a decade of waiting – have the opportunity to earn that first cap.
“I don’t know how much you’ve had to do with Keelan but he’s a great personality,” explains Sherratt, who was with Wales as an assistant on the summer tour of 2017 with Giles. “A really, really good kid.
“I still call him a kid because I knew him when I was younger. A really good trainer, very diligent.
“This is not the case with all wingers, but he’s quite a rugby nerd. If there’s any games on, if you speak to Keelan the next day, he’s watched it.
“I’m probably doing Keelan a disservice. All the coaches have said this. We watched him week two and he was just having x-factor moments.
“He’s got a linebreak in him. He’s just that type of winger. Similar to Blair Murray if I’m honest in terms of how he moves.
“He can change direction quickly. If you can get Keelan on diagonals, running against forwards, he’s really hard to handle. He’s got good basics.
“He’s got x-factor. If we need a bit of x-factor off the bench, Reuben (Morgan-Williams) and Keelan both provide that. They’ve both got big moments in them.
“He’s just maximised everything he’s had. He’s had tough luck with a few injuries. Coming so close to winning a cap in Samoa, being on the bench and not getting on.
“He’s probably someone who thought his time had come and gone.”
Sherratt will also know Giles from his time at the Ospreys, having worked there as a backs coach.
The decision to put Giles on the bench, given he only covers wing, might have raised some eyebrows as Wales look to end an 18-Test losing run, but Sherratt is content with the decision to once again put the Gorseinon product into the mix for that elusive first cap.
“Sometimes, especially in these conditions when the grounds are hard, he’s just shown some moments,” said Sherratt. “Obviously Josh Adams can cover 13 and 15, Tom Rogers can play 15, Ben has played 10 and 15 before.
“We just felt it was worth giving Keelan a run off the bench. He’s an out-and-out winger but we’ve got enough cover in the backline to cover elsewhere.”
After nine years of waiting, the chance has come around once again.
“I have to be careful saying this as he’s on the bench on the weekend,” adds Sherratt, “but hopefully we can get him on the field and get him the cap he deserves.”
