Shane Williams
Encyclopedia
Shane Mark Williams is a Welsh
international rugby union
player who plays as a wing for the Ospreys and who can also play scrum-half. Williams is the record try scorer for the Wales national team and he is third on the international list of leading Rugby union Test try scorers behind Daisuke Ohata
and David Campese
. He is Wales' most capped winger.
In 2008, Williams was selected as the IRB International Player of the Year
.
Williams is well known for his side-step, acceleration and his ability to find open space through opposition defence. He has been described as one of the most exciting wingers in the world.
in Swansea
, but grew up in Glanaman in the Amman Valley
. He picked up his first rugby ball while still in primary school, and was always small for his age, even going into secondary school at Amman Valley Comprehensive School (now Ysgol Dyffryn Aman). Told that he was too small to play rugby, Williams took up football instead, playing for Cwmamman United A.F.C.
; in his first appearance for the club's junior team, Williams had to play in goal as no one else would volunteer to take the position. Williams' former junior football coach, Alun Rees, remembers him as a "superb goalkeeper", but notes that he could also play outfield. Williams played for Cwmamman United up to the senior level, while only playing rugby sporadically, and admits that, at the time, football was "[his] main sport". However, on the day of Cwmamman United's cup final, Williams was invited to play rugby with his friends at Amman United RFC
; Amman United ended up winning by 82 points, with Williams scoring five tries.
he joined Neath
as a second-choice scrum-half. However, it became apparent to Lyn Jones
, Neath's then-coach, that Williams simply could not be left out of the side, and placed him on the right wing, opposite Delme Williams on the left. However, Delme Williams had shown a tendency not to kick and chase the ball, resulting in him and Shane swapping wings.
When it came to Williams signing his first professional contract with Neath, Amman United demanded a transfer fee for him, resulting in negotiations between the two clubs. Nevertheless, Williams eventually signed for Neath on a contract worth approximately £7,500 per annum, equivalent to his wage at the local Job Centre
where he was working part-time.
He suffered a series of hamstring injuries in 2002 and did not often figure in Steve Hansen
's squad. He considered quitting rugby entirely at this time.
He was part of the Grand Slam-winning Wales side in the 2005 Six Nations championship, where he scored tries against Italy, Scotland, and most famously England, the try that helped them achieve a famous 11–9 victory that got their campaign underway. He was then selected to the British and Irish Lions
for their 2005 New Zealand tour
. On 28 June, he equalled a single-game Lions record by scoring five tries
in a tour match against Manawatu
.
In the summer of 2007, Williams underwent elbow and shoulder surgery and missed the tour of Australia. However, he did return in time to play the last World Cup warm up game against France.
During the 2007 Rugby World Cup
, Williams earned his 50th cap against Japan
. He scored two tries in that match, temporarily putting him on top of the 2007 World Cup try-scoring table with a total of five tries. The tries also put him above Ieuan Evans
on the all-time Wales try scoring list, trailing only Gareth Thomas
at that time. His try against France
in their Six Nations
decider on 15 March 2008 placed him joint eighth on the all-time Test try scoring list with Thomas, and surpassed Thomas on the all-time Wales try scoring list.
He participated in a second Grand Slam win with Wales in the 2008 Six Nations Championship
, when he scored tries against Scotland (twice), Italy (twice), Ireland, and France, breaking the record on the all-time Wales try scoring list in the championship's final match against France, when he scored his 41st try for Wales. This try resulted in his father Mark Williams winning £25,000 from a £50 bet placed almost 10 years previously that he'd one day become Wales' leading try scorer. His performances in the Six Nations led to him being named the player of the tournament.
On 23 November 2008, Williams became the first Welshman to be named IRB International Player of the Year, beating fellow Welshman Ryan Jones, New Zealand's Dan Carter, Scottish skipper Mike Blair, and Italy captain Sergio Parisse http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7745073.stm
On 7 December 2008, he won the BBC Welsh Sports Personality Of The Year, seeing off the competition of Tom James, David Roberts, Geraint Thomas and runners up Joe Calzaghe and Nicole Cooke.
In his first 2009 Six Nations game against Scotland he scored his 45th test try to take him above Jeff Wilson on the all-time leading try scorers list to sixth. During the game he received an ankle injury and was taken off the pitch. Following the injury he missed the next game against England, but would start for Wales' third game against France. In the fourth game of the championship, Williams scored Wales' opening try against Italy to take himself to equal fifth on the all-time leading try scorers list.
On 21 April 2009, Williams was named as a member of the British and Irish Lions for the 2009 tour to South Africa. Williams missed out on a starting place in the first two Tests but was selected to play in the final Test where he produced a man-of-the-match winning performance and scored two tries that contributed to the 28–9 victory over the Springboks.
On 21 November 2009, Williams scored two tries in Wales' comfortable 33–16 win over Argentina in the Millennium Stadium, taking his international try tally to 50.
On 13 February 2010, Williams scored the winning try against Scotland in Cardiff, completing a remarkable Welsh comeback. Wales trailed 24–14 with 4 minutes remaining in the game, and Williams' try on the last play of the game took the final score to 31–24 to Wales. It was Williams' 49th international try for Wales (51st in all internationals), and his 18th in the Six Nations, equalling the record by a Welshman in the tournament, held by Gareth Edwards.
On 26 February 2010, Williams again scored in the final minute in the 26–20 loss to France. This score handed him sole position of tries scored by a Welshman in the tournament with 19 tries for his country.
Shane stated that he would retire from playing for Wales after the 2011 Rugby World Cup
but later decided to play against Australia on 3 December 2011.
instead.
On 23 December 2005, Williams married his childhood sweetheart Gail Branwen Lacey, whom he had met at Amman Valley school 14 years previously, at Twyn Church in Garnant
. The couple's first daughter, Georgie, was born on 7 November 2006.
Williams and Lacey went on to have a son, Carter, born 11 July 2009.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
international rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
player who plays as a wing for the Ospreys and who can also play scrum-half. Williams is the record try scorer for the Wales national team and he is third on the international list of leading Rugby union Test try scorers behind Daisuke Ohata
Daisuke Ohata
Daisuke Ohata is a former Japanese rugby union player. He usually played rugby at wing, and sometimes centre, for Japan national rugby union team. He made his name internationally as a speedy ace in the IRB World Sevens Series, and went on to become a regular member of the national team...
and David Campese
David Campese
David Ian Campese , also known as Campo, is a former Australian rugby union player. Campese was capped by the Wallabies 101 times, and held the world record for the most tries in test matches until Daisuke Ohata scored his 65th try playing for Japan on 14 May 2006...
. He is Wales' most capped winger.
In 2008, Williams was selected as the IRB International Player of the Year
IRB International Player of the Year
IRB Player of the Year is an accolade awarded annually by the International Rugby Board. It is awarded to the player who is adjudged to have been the best performer in rugby union internationals in the preceding season IRB Player of the Year is an accolade awarded annually by the International...
.
Williams is well known for his side-step, acceleration and his ability to find open space through opposition defence. He has been described as one of the most exciting wingers in the world.
Early life
Williams was born in MorristonMorriston
Morriston is a community in the City and County of Swansea, Wales and falls within the Morriston ward. Morriston is sometimes referred to as a distinct town , however Morriston never had a town charter, and is now part of the continuous urban area around Swansea, the centre of which lies three...
in Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...
, but grew up in Glanaman in the Amman Valley
Amman Valley
Amman Valley may refer to:*The valley of the River Amman*Amman Valley Hospital*Amman Valley Railway*Amman Valley Railway Society*Amman Valley School...
. He picked up his first rugby ball while still in primary school, and was always small for his age, even going into secondary school at Amman Valley Comprehensive School (now Ysgol Dyffryn Aman). Told that he was too small to play rugby, Williams took up football instead, playing for Cwmamman United A.F.C.
Cwmamman United A.F.C.
-Introduction:Cwmamman United are a Welsh football team based in the villages of Glanaman and Garnant which is in Carmarthenshire. Cwmamman United currently have 3 senior teams and seven junior teams. The first team play in the MacWhirter Welsh League Division 3...
; in his first appearance for the club's junior team, Williams had to play in goal as no one else would volunteer to take the position. Williams' former junior football coach, Alun Rees, remembers him as a "superb goalkeeper", but notes that he could also play outfield. Williams played for Cwmamman United up to the senior level, while only playing rugby sporadically, and admits that, at the time, football was "[his] main sport". However, on the day of Cwmamman United's cup final, Williams was invited to play rugby with his friends at Amman United RFC
Amman United RFC
Amman United Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team from the town of Glanamman, Wales. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Llanelli Scarlets....
; Amman United ended up winning by 82 points, with Williams scoring five tries.
Club career
Williams started his junior career as a scrum-half at Amman UnitedAmman United RFC
Amman United Rugby Football Club is a rugby union team from the town of Glanamman, Wales. The club is a member of the Welsh Rugby Union and is a feeder club for the Llanelli Scarlets....
he joined Neath
Neath RFC
Neath Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union club which plays in the Welsh Premier Division. The club's home ground is The Gnoll, Neath. The first team is known as the Welsh All Blacks because of the team colours: black with only a white cross pattée as an emblem...
as a second-choice scrum-half. However, it became apparent to Lyn Jones
Lyn Jones
Richard Lyn Jones is a former Wales international rugby union player. A flanker, he played his club rugby for Neath RFC. He was appointed Head Coach of the Ospreys when the regional team was created in 2003 but left by mutual agreement on 16 May 2008 and joined Newport Gwent Dragons in November 2008...
, Neath's then-coach, that Williams simply could not be left out of the side, and placed him on the right wing, opposite Delme Williams on the left. However, Delme Williams had shown a tendency not to kick and chase the ball, resulting in him and Shane swapping wings.
When it came to Williams signing his first professional contract with Neath, Amman United demanded a transfer fee for him, resulting in negotiations between the two clubs. Nevertheless, Williams eventually signed for Neath on a contract worth approximately £7,500 per annum, equivalent to his wage at the local Job Centre
Jobcentre Plus
Jobcentre Plus was a government agency for working-age people in Great Britain. The agency was formed when the Employment Service, which operated Jobcentres, merged with the Benefits Agency, which ran social security offices, and was re-named Jobcentre Plus on 1 April 2002...
where he was working part-time.
International career
Williams earned his first cap from the bench against France in 1999–2000 Six Nations season, he was three weeks short of his 23rd birthday and weighed a little over 11 stone. He scored in his first full start for Wales with a try against Italy in the same Six Nations tournament and has since scored 59 international tries (57 for Wales, 2 for the British and Irish Lions). In addition, he has also scored 6 tries for the Lions in tour games, of which, five were in one game.He suffered a series of hamstring injuries in 2002 and did not often figure in Steve Hansen
Steve Hansen
Steve Hansen is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player.He was the head coach of the Welsh national team. He became the ninth Welsh coach in 13 years, after Graham Henry parted company with the Welsh Rugby Union in 2002. During his first game in charge, Wales performed well but lost by...
's squad. He considered quitting rugby entirely at this time.
He was part of the Grand Slam-winning Wales side in the 2005 Six Nations championship, where he scored tries against Italy, Scotland, and most famously England, the try that helped them achieve a famous 11–9 victory that got their campaign underway. He was then selected to the British and Irish Lions
British and Irish Lions
The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...
for their 2005 New Zealand tour
2005 British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand
In 2005 the British and Irish Lions rugby union team toured New Zealand for the first time since 1993, playing 7 tour matches against first and second division clubs from the National Provincial Championship series, 1 tour match against the national New Zealand all Māori club, and 3 official test...
. On 28 June, he equalled a single-game Lions record by scoring five tries
Try
A try is the major way of scoring points in rugby league and rugby union football. A try is scored by grounding the ball in the opposition's in-goal area...
in a tour match against Manawatu
Manawatu Rugby Union
Manawatu Rugby Union is the governing body of the sport of Rugby union in the Manawatu rugby province. The Union is based in the city of Palmerston North but has a catchment area from nearby towns in the province, including Feilding, Rongotea, Linton, Bulls, Pahiatua, Dannevirke and...
.
In the summer of 2007, Williams underwent elbow and shoulder surgery and missed the tour of Australia. However, he did return in time to play the last World Cup warm up game against France.
During the 2007 Rugby World Cup
2007 Rugby World Cup
The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003,...
, Williams earned his 50th cap against Japan
Japan national rugby union team
The Japan national rugby union team represent Japan in international rugby union competitions. Japan is traditionally the strongest rugby union power in Asia but has both enjoyed and endured mixed results against non-Asian teams over the years...
. He scored two tries in that match, temporarily putting him on top of the 2007 World Cup try-scoring table with a total of five tries. The tries also put him above Ieuan Evans
Ieuan Evans
Ieuan Evans is a former rugby union footballer who played on the wing for Wales. He is regarded as one of the best Welsh wingers of all time, despite playing through a disappointing era of Welsh rugby. A prolific try scorer at International level, Evans is listed 19th in the world on the all-time...
on the all-time Wales try scoring list, trailing only Gareth Thomas
Gareth Thomas (rugby player)
Gareth Thomas , known as Alfie, is a retired Welsh professional rugby footballer who played rugby league for the Crusaders RL in the Super League. He also previously played rugby union for the Cardiff Blues and as a fullback, wing or centre.On 26 May 2007, Thomas surpassed Gareth Llewellyn as the...
at that time. His try against France
France national rugby union team
The France national rugby union team represents France in rugby union. They compete annually against England, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales in the Six Nations Championship. They have won the championship outright sixteen times, shared it a further eight times, and have completed nine grand slams...
in their Six Nations
2008 Six Nations Championship
The 2008 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2008 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the ninth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the 114th...
decider on 15 March 2008 placed him joint eighth on the all-time Test try scoring list with Thomas, and surpassed Thomas on the all-time Wales try scoring list.
He participated in a second Grand Slam win with Wales in the 2008 Six Nations Championship
2008 Six Nations Championship
The 2008 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2008 RBS 6 Nations because of the tournament's sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the ninth series of the rugby union Six Nations Championship. Including the previous incarnations as the Home Nations and Five Nations, this was the 114th...
, when he scored tries against Scotland (twice), Italy (twice), Ireland, and France, breaking the record on the all-time Wales try scoring list in the championship's final match against France, when he scored his 41st try for Wales. This try resulted in his father Mark Williams winning £25,000 from a £50 bet placed almost 10 years previously that he'd one day become Wales' leading try scorer. His performances in the Six Nations led to him being named the player of the tournament.
On 23 November 2008, Williams became the first Welshman to be named IRB International Player of the Year, beating fellow Welshman Ryan Jones, New Zealand's Dan Carter, Scottish skipper Mike Blair, and Italy captain Sergio Parisse http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/7745073.stm
On 7 December 2008, he won the BBC Welsh Sports Personality Of The Year, seeing off the competition of Tom James, David Roberts, Geraint Thomas and runners up Joe Calzaghe and Nicole Cooke.
In his first 2009 Six Nations game against Scotland he scored his 45th test try to take him above Jeff Wilson on the all-time leading try scorers list to sixth. During the game he received an ankle injury and was taken off the pitch. Following the injury he missed the next game against England, but would start for Wales' third game against France. In the fourth game of the championship, Williams scored Wales' opening try against Italy to take himself to equal fifth on the all-time leading try scorers list.
On 21 April 2009, Williams was named as a member of the British and Irish Lions for the 2009 tour to South Africa. Williams missed out on a starting place in the first two Tests but was selected to play in the final Test where he produced a man-of-the-match winning performance and scored two tries that contributed to the 28–9 victory over the Springboks.
On 21 November 2009, Williams scored two tries in Wales' comfortable 33–16 win over Argentina in the Millennium Stadium, taking his international try tally to 50.
On 13 February 2010, Williams scored the winning try against Scotland in Cardiff, completing a remarkable Welsh comeback. Wales trailed 24–14 with 4 minutes remaining in the game, and Williams' try on the last play of the game took the final score to 31–24 to Wales. It was Williams' 49th international try for Wales (51st in all internationals), and his 18th in the Six Nations, equalling the record by a Welshman in the tournament, held by Gareth Edwards.
On 26 February 2010, Williams again scored in the final minute in the 26–20 loss to France. This score handed him sole position of tries scored by a Welshman in the tournament with 19 tries for his country.
Shane stated that he would retire from playing for Wales after the 2011 Rugby World Cup
2011 Rugby World Cup
The 2011 Rugby World Cup was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The International Rugby Board selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japan and South Africa at a meeting in Dublin on 17 November 2005...
but later decided to play against Australia on 3 December 2011.
Personal life
In August 2005, a holiday to Cyprus made the headlines when Williams was erroneously held over an assault. The police lost his passport; his lawyer described the whole incident as a "total stitch-up"; and on his return to Wales, Williams suggested that he should have spent his holiday in TenbyTenby
Tenby is a walled seaside town in Pembrokeshire, South West Wales, lying on Carmarthen Bay.Notable features of Tenby include of sandy beaches; the 13th century medieval town walls, including the Five Arches barbican gatehouse ; 15th century St...
instead.
On 23 December 2005, Williams married his childhood sweetheart Gail Branwen Lacey, whom he had met at Amman Valley school 14 years previously, at Twyn Church in Garnant
Garnant
Garnant is a village in Carmarthenshire, West Wales about 5 miles east of Ammanford on the A474 road.During the early part of the 20th century it was the site of a tinplate works and several anthracite coal mines. It lies on the edge of the Black Mountain, in the westernmost part of the Brecon...
. The couple's first daughter, Georgie, was born on 7 November 2006.
Williams and Lacey went on to have a son, Carter, born 11 July 2009.
Points record
Statistics as of 3 May 2008, taken from the official site of the Ospreys, as of the 19 October 2011 taken from the official site of the Welsh Rugby Union and the British & Irish Lions.| Team | Games | Tries | Conversions | Penalties | Drop Goals | Total Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ospreys | 101 | 48 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 246 |
| Wales | 85 | 56 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 280 |
| British and Irish Lions Tests | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| British and Irish Lions Tour Matches | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 |
| Total | 187 | 112 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 566 |