Martyn Elwyn Williams, (born 1 September 1975) is a former Wales and British & Irish Lions international rugby union player. A flanker, he was Wales' most-capped forward with 100 caps until surpassed by Gethin Jenkins on 30 November 2013. He remains Wales most capped back row forward.

Club career

Williams played club rugby for Pontypridd, with whom he won the 1996–97 Welsh league, then moved to

Cardiff RFC Cardiff Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Caerdydd) is a rugby union club based in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The club was founded in 1876Parry-Jones (1989), pg 59 and played their first few matches at Sophia Gardens, shortly after ...

in 1999. He captained Cardiff from 2002 until 2005, when Rhys Williams took over the role. In the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

semi-final match against

Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers (officially Leicester Football Club) are a professional rugby union club based in Leicester, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1880 and since 1892 plays its hom ...

on 3 May 2009, Williams missed a crucial kick in the penalty shootout after the game had finished level after extra time, allowing Jordan Crane to step up and score the winning kick. It was the first time that a professional rugby union match had been decided by a shootout. In March 2012, Williams announced that he would retire at the end of the 2011–12 season.

International career

Wales

After gaining international caps at every junior level he won his first Wales A cap in 1996 and then made the senior side against the Barbarians the same year. His first appearance in the Five Nations Championship was against England in 1998. He captained Wales for the first time against Scotland at Murrayfield in 2003. He won his 50th Welsh cap against England in the first match of the

2005 Six Nations Championship The 2005 Six Nations Championship was the sixth Six Nations Championship played since the competition expanded in 2000 to include Italy. Including the Home Nations and Five Nations Championships, this was the 111th season of the tournament. Wales ...

and played a prominent part in Wales' Grand Slam that year, notably scoring two tries early in the second half against France in Paris when Wales had appeared to be heading for defeat. He was named RBS Six Nations player of the Championship (2005). Williams announced his retirement from international rugby on 1 October 2007, following Wales' early exit from the 2007 Rugby World Cup only to make a surprise decision to return to international action when he was recalled by new Wales head coach Warren Gatland in January 2008. He was a key member of Wales Grand Slam winning side of 2008, and was considered by many to be one of the best players in the tournament. Williams currently holds the Welsh record for most appearances in the Five and Six Nations championships, surpassing Gareth Edwards' record of 45 appearances in the third round of the

2009 Six Nations The 2009 Six Nations Championship, known as the RBS 6 Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 10th Six Nations Championship, and the 115th international championship, an annual rugby union competition contested by the six major European national ...

. He attained his 100th cap against the Barbarians on 2 June 2012.

British & Irish Lions

Williams was selected for the British & Irish Lions tours to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in 2001 and to New Zealand in 2005. He was also named as part of Ian McGeechan's 37-man British & Irish Lions squad to tour South Africa in the summer of 2009.He is now the Welsh Rugby Team Manager

International tries

Personal life

He played

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for the Welsh YMCA U16 football side. Williams was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to rugby. In July 2012, Williams was made an honorary fellow of

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

Publications

He re-released his autobiography ''Magnificent Seven'' in August 2008 after coming out of international retirement.

References

External links

*
Pontypridd profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Martyn 1975 births Living people Rugby union players from Pontypridd Rugby union flankers Welsh rugby union players Wales international rugby union players Pontypridd RFC players Cardiff RFC players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Wales Cardiff Rugby players Wales rugby union captains Members of the Order of the British Empire