Morgan Andrew Williams (born April 17, 1976) is a Canadian

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

player. His original playing position is

scrum half Scrum may refer to: * Autozam Scrum, a microvan and pickup truck sold in Japan by Mazda * Line of scrimmage, line separating football teams before a play * Media scrum, an impromptu press conference, often held immediately outside an event such a ...

. A

Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia Cole Harbour is a former village and current community located in Nova Scotia, Canada, that is part of the Halifax Regional Municipality. Geography It is situated 6 kilometres east of the central business district of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, D ...

native, Williams debuted on the world rugby scene at age 23 when he scored two tries for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

during the

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup () was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's History of rugby union#The professional era, professional era. Four a ...

. The 183 cm, 84 kg Williams has played professionally with Bordeaux-Begles (1999–00 season),

Stade Français Stade Français Paris (known commonly as Stade Français, ) is a French professional rugby union club based in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The club plays in the Top 14 domestic league in France and is one of the most successful French ...

(00-02 and 06 seasons),

Saracens file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century History of Germany, German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to ...

(02-05 seasons). Williams beat out Christophe Lassuque to gain the starting role at

, and Kieran Bracken at

. Williams Played 3 times for the

British Barbarians The Barbarian Football Club, known as the Barbarians, is a British-based invitational rugby union club. The Barbarians play in black and white hoops, though players wear socks from their own club strip. Membership is by invitation. As of 2011, ...

, and was selected in the Martin Johnston vs Joan Lomu North vs South game in

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

. Williams has scored 12 tries and 1 drop-goal for Canada in 56 caps. He has participated in three world cups (1999,

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, and

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

). He has also played a number of times for Canada in

rugby sevens Rugby sevens (commonly known simply as sevens, and originally seven-a-side rugby) is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. R ...

, most notably at the 2001 &

2005 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2005 Rugby World Cup Sevens or the Melrose Cup was the fourth edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. The tournament was held in Hong Kong at Hong Kong Stadium. Fiji defeated New Zealand in the final to take the Melrose Cup for the second time, ...

and

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

. In 2005 against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

he captained Canada's fifteens for the first time in his career. After the 2007 World Cup he retired from international rugby. Morgan Williams was announced as the head coach of the Canadian rugby sevens team in 2009 where he led the team to a top 8 world ranking. Williams also coached Canada Men's 7s to a 3rd-place finish in the Work Games in Cali, Colombia. In 2012 Williams joined Women's Sevens head coach John Tait as the skills coach for the Women's National Sevens Team, who Finished 2nd in the 7s World Cup and 3rd in the first ever Olympics in Rugby Sevens history. In 2016 Williams was announced as the Assistant coach of the team. Currently Williams has helped the Olympic Bronze medalist finish 1st in

Sydney, Australia Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean ...

, 3rd in Las Vegas, USA, 2nd in Kitakushu, Japan, and 2nd in Langford, Canada. In 2019, Williams led Canada to a gold medal at the Pan American games in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

. In 2019 Williams was inducted into the

Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame The Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame was established on November 3, 1964, by John E. Ahern to honour outstanding athletes, teams and sport builders in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Morgan 1976 births Living people Canadian rugby union coaches Canadian rugby union players Canadian people of Welsh descent Sportspeople from Kingston, Ontario Sportspeople from Halifax, Nova Scotia People from Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia Saracens F.C. players Stade Français Paris players Canada international rugby union players Canadian expatriate rugby union players in England Canadian expatriate rugby union players in France Canada international rugby sevens players Male rugby sevens players Commonwealth Games rugby sevens players for Canada Rugby sevens players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games SC Albi players CA Bordeaux-Bègles Gironde players 1999 Rugby World Cup players 2003 Rugby World Cup players 2007 Rugby World Cup players Rugby union scrum-halves Rugby union players from Nova Scotia