Brinley "Bryn" Williams (3 April 1895 – 5 January 1987) was a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

dual-code international

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

wing who played

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

for

Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarthen. ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

with

Batley Batley is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. Batley lies south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield. Batley is part of the ...

. At rugby union he won three caps for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, and at rugby league he won two caps for

, and one cap for

Other Nationalities The Other Nationalities rugby league team are a rugby league representative team that usually consists of non-English players. They have also played under the name The Exiles and more recently Combined Nations All Stars. They competed in the first ...

Rugby career

Williams first came to note as a rugby player when he joined first-class Welsh team Llanelli. He had previously played for Bryncaerau, but after the cessation of rugby with the outbreak of World War I, he joined the

Royal Welsh Fusiliers The Royal Welch Fusiliers ( cy, Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales' Division, that was founded in 1689; shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated ...

and was posted to the front. During his service in the War, he was wounded on three occasions, and came to the notice of his battalion commander Lord Howard de Walden, who after the war named a racehorse, Brynfleet, after him. With the end of the war Williams joined Llanelli, and in 1920 he was awarded his first international cap. He was selected at wing, opposite William Charles Powell, for the last three games of the

1920 Five Nations Championship The 1920 Five Nations Championship was the sixth series of the rugby union Five Nations Championship following the inclusion of France into the Home Nations Championship, and the first played since the 1914 Games due to World War I. Including th ...

; with his first match played away from home against Scotland. Despite Wales losing the game, Williams was reselected for the next two matches, wins over France and Ireland. In the Ireland game, Williams scored his first international points, with three tries. In 1920 Williams left Llanelli and rugby union by joining professional rugby league team Batley. His signing-on fee was a reported as £400, (based on increases in average earnings, this would be approximately £44,230 in 2016), and he made his début for the club on 28 August. While at Batley, Williams made three international appearances, two with Wales and one with Other Nationalities, all of the matches in 1921. His two games for Wales were against England and Australia, while the Other Nationalities was an away game to England. Williams played left-, i.e. number 4, in

's 0–5 defeat by

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

in the 1922–23

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

County Cup The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player ...

Final during the 1922–23 season at Headingley Rugby Stadium,

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

on Saturday 2 December 1922, in front of a crowd of 33,719. After leaving Batley he played for

, and then Pontypridd.

Bibliography

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Brinley 1895 births 1987 deaths Batley Bulldogs players British Army personnel of World War I Dual-code rugby internationals Leeds Rhinos players Llanelli RFC players Other Nationalities rugby league team players Royal Welch Fusiliers soldiers Rugby league players from Llanelli Rugby union fly-halves Rugby union players from Llanelli Wales international rugby union players Wales national rugby league team players Welsh rugby league players Welsh rugby union players