Sir Bryan George Williams (born 3 October 1950) is a former New Zealand

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 ...

footballer and former coach of the

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

n national rugby team.

Playing career

Williams was born in

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, New Zealand in 1950. His father was Samoan, and his mother a Rarotongan of Samoan descent. He was educated at

Mt Albert Grammar School Mount Albert Grammar School, commonly known as MAGS, is a co-educational state secondary school in Mount Albert in Auckland, New Zealand. It teaches students in year levels 9 to 13. , Mount Albert Grammar School is the second largest school in ...

, where he started his rugby career. He became an

All Black The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, ...

in 1970 as a wing and distinguished himself in the 1970 South African Rugby Tour where he was a sensation, scoring 14 tries in his 13 appearances and in the international series he scored in each of the first and fourth Tests. This was during

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

, so with his parentage he was only able to tour after

honorary white Honorary whites is a term that was used by the apartheid regime of South Africa to grant some of rights and privileges of whites to those who would otherwise have been treated as non-whites under the Population Registration Act. This was made o ...

status was granted. Williams' international rugby career lasted from 1970 to 1978 in which he played 113 matches (including 38 international Tests) and scored 66 tries in all matches as an All Black (ten tries in Tests), which was a record until beaten by John Kirwan.

Retirement

After he retired from rugby, he coached a number of club sides in New Zealand. During the 1990s onwards, he has been the national rugby coach for Samoa. He is married and has two sons

Gavin Gavin is a male given name originating from Scotland. It is a variation on the medieval name Gawain, meaning "God send" or "white hawk" (or falcon). Sir Gawain was a knight of King Arthur's Round Table. ''Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' is an ep ...

and

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

, who also play rugby union: Gavin plays internationally for Samoa and plays club for French side

US Dax Union sportive dacquoise, also known as US Dax, is a French rugby union club currently playing in Nationale, the third level of the French league system. They were founded in 1904. They play at Stade Maurice Boyau (capacity 16,170). They wear ...

; and his other son Paul played for the Auckland

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

side the

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

before playing for Sale in the

English Premiership The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

and debuting for Samoa in 2010. Williams now coaches at the

Ponsonby Rugby Club Ponsonby District Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in Auckland, New Zealand. The club was established in 1874 and is affiliated with the Auckland Rugby Football Union. Ponsonby is the oldest extant member of the Auckland union, a ...

and the

Rugby Academy. Williams was appointed President of the NZRU in 2011.

Honours

In the 1983 Queen's Birthday Honours, Williams was appointed a Member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(MBE), for services to rugby. In the

2013 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2013 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of t ...

, Williams was appointed a

Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant (document), royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Monarchy of New Zealand, Queen of New Zealand, "for those ...

(CNZM), also for services to rugby. He was promoted to Knight Companion of the same order in the

2018 New Year Honours The 2018 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

(KNZM), for services to rugby. In August of that year, he was announced as a member of the 2018 induction class of the

World Rugby Hall of Fame The World Rugby Hall of Fame (formerly the IRB Hall of Fame) recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The World Rugby Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and other ...

, officially being inducted at the Hall of Fame's physical location in

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 ...

on 12 September.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Bryan 1950 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand sportspeople of Cook Island descent New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent Auckland rugby union players New Zealand international rugby union players People educated at Mount Albert Grammar School Rugby union players from Auckland Ponsonby RFC players Knights Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit Companions of the New Zealand Order of Merit New Zealand Members of the Order of the British Empire World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees Rugby union wings Rugby players and officials awarded knighthoods