Owen Rhys Williams (born 27 January 1986) is a Welsh 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 who played as a

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...

. Born in Blackwood, Caerphilly, he played for

Blackwood RFC Blackwood Rugby Football Club is a Welsh rugby union team. Blackwood RFC was established in Blackwood in 1889 and in 1918 gained the status of membership of the Welsh Rugby Union. They play their home games at Glan-Yr-Afon Park. History and deve ...

and Pontypridd RFC, as well as the

Wales Sevens The Wales national rugby sevens team competes in the World Rugby Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens and in the Commonwealth Games. Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by Engl ...

team. Williams began playing for Blackwood in the club's junior division at the age of 11. While playing for the youth team, Williams began to suffer from

chronic fatigue syndrome Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), also called myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) or ME/CFS, is a complex, debilitating, long-term medical condition. The causes and mechanisms of the disease are not fully understood. Distinguishing core symptoms are ...

, which rendered him unable to play for two seasons. By 2007, his health had improved to the point where he was able to join the Blackwood senior team. In February 2008, Pontypridd RFC visited Blackwood's Glan-yr-Afon Park for a Konica Minolta Cup match, in which Williams impressed enough for the Premiership side to sign him on permit for the rest of the 2007–08 season; Williams' season culminated with him starting for Pontypridd in the Konica Minolta Cup Final against

Neath Neath (; cy, Castell-nedd) is a market town and Community (Wales), community situated in the Neath Port Talbot, Neath Port Talbot County Borough, Wales. The town had a population of 50,658 in 2011. The community of the parish of Neath had a po ...

. Ponty signed Williams permanently ahead of the 2008–09 season. In early 2011, Williams was called up to the Wales Sevens Development Team, and captained the team for a FIRA–AER tournament in Spain. In December that year, he was called up to the senior Wales Sevens team for the

2011 South Africa Sevens The 2011 South Africa Sevens was the 13th edition of the tournament and was part of the 2011–12 IRB Sevens World Series. After nine seasons at George in the Western Cape, the competition moved to Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth ...

, helping the team to win the Plate after being eliminated from the Cup in the quarter-finals. A successful year saw Williams nominated for the Pontypridd RFC Player of the Year award for 2011. He left Pontypridd at the end of the 2013–14 season. He then joined

Ebbw Vale RFC Ebbw Vale Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Glyn Ebwy) is a Welsh Rugby Union Club based in the town of Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent, South Wales. The club play in the Welsh Premiership and act as a feeder club for the Dragons regional team. ...

, before moving to

Newport RFC Newport Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Casnewydd) is a Welsh rugby union club based in the city of Newport, South Wales. They presently play in the Welsh Premier Division. Until 2021 Newport RFC were based at Rodney Parade situated on t ...

in January 2016. In June 2017, he signed for Pontypool RFC. Williams is also a maths teacher, working at Ferndale Comprehensive School in the Rhondda.

References

External links

Newport RFC profilePontypridd RFC profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Owen 1986 births Living people Ebbw Vale RFC players Newport RFC players Pontypool RFC players Pontypridd RFC players Rugby union players from Blackwood, Caerphilly Rugby union wings Welsh rugby union players