George Williams (rugby union)

George Williams
Black and white image of Williams wearing his cap posing before a match
Date of birth 1856
Place of birth Auckland, New Zealand
Date of death 27 April 1925(1925-04-27)
Place of death Wellington, New Zealand
Occupation(s) Police officer
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position Forward[1]
Amateur clubs
Years Club / team
Poneke Football Club[2]
Provincial/State sides
Years Club / team Caps (points)
National team(s)
Years Club / team Caps (points)
1888–89 New Zealand Natives

George Albert Williams (1856–27 April 1925) was a New Zealand rugby union player who toured with the 1888–89 New Zealand Native football team to the British Isles, Ireland and Australia.[3] Nicknamed "Bully", Williams was one of five non-Māori players in the Natives' side.[4]

Williams was born in Auckland in 1956, and did not start playing rugby until the age of 24.[2] He was a member of the Wellington club Poneke, and was selected for Wellington province from the club in 1886, 1887 and 1888.[1]

In early 1888, Joe Warbrick, a member of the 1884 New Zealand team that toured Australia,[5] started planning for a squad of Māori rugby players to tour the British Isles.[6] As Warbrick was scouting for players throughout 1888, his plans changed, and he decided to include a number of Pākehā (European non-Māori) in the side.[4] Eventually five Pākehā were included in the squad of twenty-six, and the side was consequently named the New Zealand Native football team.[7][lower-alpha 1]

At 32, Williams was the oldest player in the team,[7] and only joined a day before their first match.[8] The tour became the longest in rugby history; 107 matches were played during the 14-month tour, which had legs in Australia, the British Isles, Ireland, and New Zealand.[9] Of these 107 matches, 74 were in the British Isles and Ireland,[10] and an average of a game every 2.3 days on that leg.[11] Williams played in 53 of these,[12] scoring 12 tries in the process,[13] and captained the team on a number of occasions.[7] In total, Williams played at least 75 matches on tour (a number of team lists are missing).[12]

Williams played in all three of the Natives' "international" matches while on tour; a victory over Ireland,[14] a narrow loss to Wales,[15] and a controversial loss to England.[16][lower-alpha 2]

Williams retired as a player after the tour, but continued to be involved in the game as a referee. Along with two other players, he contributed to tour manager Thomas Eyton's Rugby Football Past and Present, published in 1896,[17] that gave an account of the tour.[18] He contributed a number of article to the New Zealand Truth before the departure of the 1924 All Blacks.[19] Outside of rugby, Williams was a police officer, and was involved in the arrest of the Maori spiritual leader Te Whiti o Rongomai.[2] He served throughout New Zealand, including in Wellington, Hastings, Invercargill and Marlborough.[2][3]

Notes

  1. ↑ Two of the non-Māori in the squad were not actually New Zealand-born: Patrick Keogh (England), and Edward McCausland (Australia).[7]
  2. ↑ For details on the controversial loss to England see 1888–89 New Zealand Native football team § England international.

References

Sources

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