Star Shane earns his dad £25,000

Mar 17 2008 by Katie Bodinger, South Wales Echo

SHANE Williams earned his dad £25,000 when he broke the Welsh try-scoring record on Saturday.

Dad Mike bet just £50 at 500-1 that wing wizard Shane would do it before he had even played for Wales.

Today, he will collect on the wager, taken out in 2000.

Shane, capped 56 times, beat Gareth Thomas’ Welsh record of 40 tries with the first in Saturday’s epic 29-12 victory.

His score set up the victory which led to wild celebrations across Wales.

Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards said: “Shane deserved the record because he’s an incredible player and he has won his father a huge amount of money.”

Modest Shane did not want to talk about his dad’s bet. The 31-year-old, who also equalled the Six Nations tries record with six in the season, said: “It feels fantastic to have done so well, but the whole campaign has not been about that.

“It’s been about the team and our pursuit of the Grand Slam.”