Steve Williams (born 5 October 1982) is an Australian-born German

international International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * ''International'' (New Order album), 2002 * ''International'' (The T ...

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 it ...

player, having played for the SC Neuenheim and the

German national rugby union team The Germany national rugby union team ( German: Deutsche Rugby-Union-Nationalmannschaft) represents Germany in men's international competitions. It currently plays at the second level of European rugby but is yet to qualify for the Rugby Wo ...

. He has also played club rugby at highest level in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

.Steve Williams's Page
Mosman Rugby website, accessed: 5 March 2010

Biography

Williams has been playing rugby since 1988,Steve Williams profile at totalrugby.de
accessed: 5 March 2010 and hails from

Alstonville, New South Wales Alstonville is a town in northern New South Wales, Australia, part of the region known as the Northern Rivers. Alstonville is on the Bruxner Highway between the town of Ballina (13 km to the east) and city of Lismore (19 km to the ...

.Aussie backpacker's debut victory
''

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the F ...

'', published: 27 November 2007, accessed: 5 March 2010 Williams qualified to play for Germany through his German mother and, after

backpacking Backpacking may refer to: * Backpacking (travel), low-cost, independent, international travel * Backpacking (hiking), trekking and camping overnight in the wilderness * Ultralight backpacking, a style of wilderness backpacking with an emphasis on ...

through Europe and watching Australia play in the 2007 Rugby World Cup, he had a trial for Germany, which he passed. He impressed Germany's director of rugby,

Peter Ianusevici Peter Ianusevici ( ro, Petre Ianusevici; born 17 May 1950 in Sibiu) is a retired Romanian rugby union international

, enough to field him in Germany's next game.Germans nick Aussie backpacker
super10rugby.com, published: 23 November 2007, accessed: 5 March 2010 He made his debut for Germany on 24 November 2007, three days after his trial, a 34–5 victory against

Moldova Moldova ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Moldova ( ro, Republica Moldova), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised state of Transnistr ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

. He neither speaks German nor was he able to sing the

German national anthem The "" (; "Song of Germany"), officially titled "" (; "The Song of the Germans"), has been the national anthem of Germany either wholly or in part since 1922, except for a seven-year gap following World War II in West Germany. In East German ...

, but he indicated his willingness to learn both for the upcoming spring tests in early 2008. His debut for Germany however meant, he was not eligible to play for his native country Australia in the future, as the

International Rugby Board World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international ru ...

allows a player to play for only one country. Williams played three games for the team in the 2006-2008 European Nations Cup Second Division, his last on 26 April 2008, against the

, with Germany winning all three of them and securing promotion to the 2008-2010 European Nations Cup First Division. After his stint in Europe and playing for Germany, he now again plays in Australia, for

Mosman Rugby Club Mosman Rugby Club (known as The Mosman Whales) is an Australian rugby union club. It is based is Mosman on the Lower North Shore of Sydney. Home games are played at Rawson Oval and Balmoral Oval. Mosman won the first Kentwell Cup in 1923 and ...

. He is a European and Business Studies student at Sydney's Macquarie University. Williams was supposed to play for SC Neuenheim in the 2008–09 Bundesliga season but, despite being confirmed by the club as a transfer, did not travel to Europe to play for the team.TotalRugby Vorschau 1. Bundesliga – 9. Spieltag 2008/2009
totalrugby.de, published: 20 November 2008, accessed: 7 March 2010

Honours

National team

European Nations Cup European Nations Cup may refer to: *UEFA European Championship, formerly known as European Nations' Cup * Europcar Cup, a European Tour golf tournament * European Nations Cup (golf), a European Ladies Tour golf tournament * European Nations Cup (fi ...

– Division 2 ** Champions:

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Stats

Steve Williams's personal statistics in club and international rugby:

National team

* ''As of 5 March 2010''

References

External links

Steve Williams
at scrum.com *
Steve Williams
at totalrugby.de {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Steve 1982 births Living people Australian rugby union players German rugby union players Germany international rugby union players Australian people of German descent SC Neuenheim players Rugby union props Macquarie University alumni Australian expatriate rugby union players Expatriate rugby union players in Scotland Australian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland People from the Northern Rivers Rugby union players from New South Wales