Martyn Elwyn Williams, (born 1 September 1975) is a former Wales and British & Irish Lions international

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. A flanker, he was Wales' most-capped forward with 100 caps until surpassed by

Gethin Jenkins Gethin Jenkins (born 17 November 1980) is a Welsh former rugby union player. He won 129 international caps for Wales and five for the British & Irish Lions. Jenkins was the record cap holder for Wales until he was overtaken by Alun Wyn Jones o ...

on 30 November 2013. He remains Wales most capped back row forward.

Club career

Williams played club rugby for

Pontypridd () ( colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. Geography comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng ( Trallwn) and Treforest (). ...

, with whom he won the 1996–97 Welsh league, then moved to Cardiff RFC in 1999. He captained Cardiff from 2002 until 2005, when Rhys Williams took over the role. In the Heineken Cup semi-final match against Leicester Tigers 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 A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be les ...

the same year. His first appearance in the

Five Nations Championship The Six Nations Championship (known as the Guinness Six Nations for sponsorship reasons) is an annual international men's rugby union competition between the teams of England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The current champions ar ...

was 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 1998. He captained

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

for the first time against

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 ...

Murrayfield Murrayfield is an affluent area to the west of Edinburgh city centre in Scotland. It is to the east of Corstorphine and north of Balgreen and Roseburn. The A8 road runs east–west through the south of the area. Murrayfield is often con ...

in 2003. He won his 50th Welsh cap against

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 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 ...

that year, notably scoring two tries early in the second half against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

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 Warren David Gatland (born 17 September 1963) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player who is currently in his second spell as the head coach of the Wales national team. As head coach of Wales from 2007 to 2019, he won four Six N ...

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 Sir Gareth Owen Edwards CBE (born 12 July 1947) is a Welsh former rugby union player who played scrum-half and has been described by the BBC as "arguably the greatest player ever to don a Welsh jersey". In 2003, in a poll of international ...

' record of 45 appearances in the third round of the 2009 Six Nations. He attained his 100th cap against the

on 2 June 2012.

British & Irish Lions

Williams was selected for the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

tours to Australia in 2001 and 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 2005. He was also named as part of

Ian McGeechan Sir Ian Robert McGeechan, OBE (born 30 October 1946) is a retired Scottish rugby union player, coach and teacher. Born in Leeds, McGeechan represented Headingley as his only club during a 15-year club career, qualifying for Scotland through h ...

'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 for the Welsh YMCA U16 football side. Williams was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to rugby. In July 2012, Williams was made an honorary fellow of Cardiff University.

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