Ospreys coach Toby Booth believes fly-half Owen Williams is timing his return to form and fitness to make him a Wales number 10 contender.

“We are delighted to see him back playing at his best which is important because there is a Six Nations around the corner,” said Booth.

“There are not too many 10s around so his timing is good.”

The Wales fly-half jersey is up for grabs after Dan Biggar’s international retirement following the 2023 World Cup and Gareth Anscombe being unavailable for the 2024 Six Nations.

Sam Costelow has been sidelined since early November but could return at the beginning of January with Ioan Lloyd impressing for Scarlets in his absence.

Lloyd struggled against Ospreys with four missed kicks at goal, while Williams was a controlling influence for his side in the same game with a 10-point haul.

Williams was handed an international recall and started the Six Nations matches against England and Italy before being part of the World Cup training squad.

The 31-year-old was given a chance in the warm-up game against England but was left out of the final 33-man party.

“Good players are good players and sometimes you need to play your way into form and get into the groove,” said Booth.

“He is his own harshest critic so sometimes my job is to stop players beating themselves up too much.

“Owen sets standards and it can be frustrating for any player not to meet them.

“In the last two games against Montpellier and Scarlets we have seen more like the Owen that we expected and he expected of himself and the team benefits massively.

“The drop-goal was a massive part of the momentum of the game against Scarlets.

“To do that you have to be at the top of your game, both to execute and to see it.”

Captain replacement

Booth says he expects to see Wales captain Jac Morgan back in action for Ospreys before the end of the season.

Morgan is set to miss the Six Nations after undergoing knee surgery with Booth saying it will be “more months than weeks” before he returns to action.

The flanker’s injury has left Wales coach Warren Gatland looking for a new captain for the 2024 tournament with Ospreys pair Dewi Lake and Adam Beard contenders.

Gatland will name his squad in mid January with Wales opening the campaign against Scotland on 3 February in Cardiff.

Morgan and Lake were named as Wales co-captains for the World Cup.

Morgan, 23, led Wales in three games against Fiji, Australia and Argentina, while Lake, 24 was skipper for the pool victories against Portugal and Georgia.

Morgan was named as sole captain for the uncapped game against Barbarians in November with Gatland admitting he was unlikely to return to the co-captain policy.

Lake will have to prove he is Wales’ first-choice hooker with Ryan Elias preferred during the World Cup big matches and Elliot Dee also used in France.

Beard, 27, led Ospreys against Scarlets in the Boxing Day derby win. He has previously been named Wales vice-captain and has led his nation during games.

“We [Ospreys] have got a lot of leaders by design and invest a lot of time in our programme on that,” said Booth.

“We have a lot of people who can captain the team which is great because in pressurised environments, we want coherent leaders on the same page.

“The first rule of leadership is leading by example and the people mentioned (Lake and Beard) do that, if that is the leadership they [Wales] are looking for.

“Those two are great leaders.”