Steve Williams (born 29 July 1958) is an Australian former state and
national representative 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 captained the
Wallabies
A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...
in five Test matches in 1985.
Early life and sporting promise
A grazier's son, born in Narromine in far-western New South Wales, Williams was sent to boarding school at
St Joseph's College in Sydney where his large frame and athletic promise was nurtured at the Joey's rugby nursery. He excelled as a schoolboy sportsman. He rowed in the First VIII for three years, won the
GPS Schools
The Athletic Association of the Great Public Schools of New South Wales (AAGPS) is a sporting association of boys' schools in New South Wales, Australia that contest sporting events among themselves. The AAGPS was formed on 30 March 1892, and t ...
Shot Put
The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...
Championship in the Open division two years, played in the school's First XV for two years and was selected in the Australian Schoolboy's XV (1975 and 1976).
Club rugby
He joined the
Drummoyne Rugby Club from school but later moved to the
Manly club and was there in 1983 when
Alan Jones took over as coach. He captained this Manly team in 1983 to win the final. Jones was the new Australian coach from 1984 and he saw the value that Williams brought to the national pack in his line-out jumping, his surprising pace and fearless scrummaging. Jones also saw Williams' leadership potential.
Representative rugby career and leadership style
Williams debuted for Australia against
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...
in the 1980 three match tour. He played in all matches including Australia's 22–9 Test victory. That year he also appeared for
New South Wales Waratahs
The New South Wales Waratahs ( or ;), referred to as the Waratahs, are an Australian professional rugby union team representing the majority of New South Wales in the Super Rugby competition. The Riverina and other southern parts of the state, ...
against the touring
All Blacks
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 ...
and then was selected for the
Wallabies
A wallaby () is a small or middle-sized macropod native to Australia and New Guinea, with introduced populations in New Zealand, Hawaii, the United Kingdom and other countries. They belong to the same taxonomic family as kangaroos and so ...
in the first and second Tests of that year's
Bledisloe Cup
The Bledisloe Cup is an annual rugby union competition originally staged between the national teams of Australia's Wallabies and New Zealand's All Blacks that has been contested since the 1930s. The frequency that the competition is held has va ...
series. He suffered a broken jaw in the 2nd Test after starting a fracas with New Zealand's
Mark Shaw and was out for the 3rd Test.
He made four appearances in 1981 against the touring
French side – for Sydney, New South Wales and in both Tests. He was then selected for the 1981–82 tour of the British Isles but the first choice second-rowers were skipper
Tony Shaw, and
Peter McLean and Williams generally played in the minor matches other than the Test against
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
.
In 1982 Williams toured to
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 ...
in the squad led by
Mark Ella
Mark Gordon Ella, AM (born 5 June 1959) is an indigenous Australian former rugby union footballer. Ella played at flyhalf/five-eighth and was capped by the Wallabies 25 times, captaining Australia on 10 occasions.
Ella made his debut tour wit ...
and played in eight matches including all three Tests against the
All Blacks
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 1983 he represented against the United States,
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
and New Zealand and made the European tour squad, playing late that year in Tests against France and
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
.
1984 was a golden year for Australian rugby and Williams played a prominent role. Three Tests were played at home against New Zealand where he formed a new second-row partnership with another giant name Steven –
Steve Cutler. The team gained toughness and finessed its combinations in August before heading to the British Isles under captain
Andrew Slack
Andrew Gerard Slack (born 24 September 1955 in Brisbane) is an Australian former state and national representative rugby union player who captained the Wallabies in 19 Test matches in between 1984 and 1987. His 133 appearances for Queensland bet ...
for the
1984 Grand Slam tour. Jones valued Williams' quiet lead-by-example ethic, his work ethic and the hard edge he brought to the pack especially in his ability to protect the young line-out star Cutler. Jones made Williams the forward leader and squad vice-captain.
Steve Williams proudly debuted as captain of the Wallabies in the first tour match against London Division and in another later mid-week game. He led the pack in all four Tests and was instrumental in the famous push-over try against
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 ...
at
Cardiff Arms which marked the coming of age of Australian forward play, an indication that the Wallabies could finally field a world-class pack. Howell quotes
Mark Ella
Mark Gordon Ella, AM (born 5 June 1959) is an indigenous Australian former rugby union footballer. Ella played at flyhalf/five-eighth and was capped by the Wallabies 25 times, captaining Australia on 10 occasions.
Ella made his debut tour wit ...
'' "When Alan Jones made Steve the senior forward, it was the best thing that could have happened. He took the responsibility and really drove the forwards. I must say Steve's lineout ability surprised me. Some of his jumping was sensational, particularly in the Irish test. It enabled us to take pressure off Steve Cutler by being able to throw to 2,4 or 6. To Williams up front, Cutler in the middle or Steve Tuynman at the back. Our lineout was complete."''
[Howell p 227]
The
Grand Slam
Grand Slam most often refers to:
* Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves
Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to:
Games and sports
* Grand slam, winning category te ...
victory by the 1984 squad was the first ever for an Australian team. A number of the senior players retired at tour's end and some of the stars took a year off. Williams however played on enabling him a distinguished 1985. He captained the Wallabies in five Tests that year – victories in two match series against both Canada and Fiji before a 9–10 loss against New Zealand. He retired at the top, as his country's captain having played 56 matches for Australia, having made five Wallaby tours, with a then record for a second-rower of 28 Test appearances.
Footnotes
Sources
* ''The Spirit of Rugby'' (1995) (Collection of Essays) Harper Collins, Australia
*
Howell, Max (2005) ''Born to Lead – Wallaby Test Captains'', Celebrity Books, Auckland NZ
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Steve
1958 births
Australian rugby union players
Australia international rugby union players
Australian rugby union captains
People educated at St Joseph's College, Hunters Hill
Living people
Rugby union players from New South Wales
Rugby union locks