Gavin Williams (born 25 October 1979) is a former

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 ...

player from New Zealand, who played in the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

and for

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 ...

internationally. Williams previously played for

Connacht Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...

, where he played from 2005 until the end of the 2006–07 season. After leaving Connacht, he went on to make his debut for Samoa in 2007 in a match against . Williams scored a try and conversion in Samoa's opening game in the 2007 World Cup. After leaving Connacht, he played for

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 ...

before signing for Clermont. Gavin Williams has a strong family connection in rugby with his father Bryan Williams, a strong winger who played for

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 ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, and brother Paul Williams, who has represented the Crusaders, Highlanders and

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 ...

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 ...

, and who also plays for Samoa internationally.

References

scrum.com stats
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Gavin 1979 births New Zealand rugby union players New Zealand sportspeople of Cook Island descent New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent Samoa international rugby union players Connacht Rugby players Pacific Islanders rugby union players Rugby union centres New Zealand expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in Ireland Expatriate rugby union players in France New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Ireland New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in France Samoan expatriate rugby union players Samoan expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Samoan expatriate sportspeople in France Rugby union players from Auckland Living people