Shane Williams

This article is about the Welsh rugby union player. For the Australian rules footballer, see Shane Williams (Australian footballer). For the Irish hurler, see Shane Williams (hurler).

Shane Williams
MBE
Williams in October 2008
Full nameShane Mark Williams
Date of birth (1977-02-26) 26 February 1977 (age 47)
Place of birthMorriston, Swansea, Wales
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight80 kg (12 st 8 lb)
SchoolAmman Valley School
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing
Scrum-half
Youth career
?–1998 Amman United
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1998–2003 Neath 129 (612)
2003–2012 Ospreys 141 (293)
2012–2015 Mitsubishi 10 (30)
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2000–2011 Wales 87 (290)
2005–2013 British & Irish Lions 4 (10)

Shane Mark Williams, MBE (born 26 February 1977) is a Welsh former rugby union player most famous for his long and successful tenure as a wing for the Ospreys and the Wales national team. He also played scrum-half on occasion.[1] Williams is the record try scorer for Wales, and is fourth on the international list of leading rugby union test try scorers behind Daisuke Ohata, Bryan Habana and David Campese.

In 2008, Williams was selected as the World Rugby Player of the Year, then known as the IRB Player of the Year.[2]

Since his retirement from international rugby in 2012, Williams has worked as a presenter on S4C's Six Nations rugby programme Y Clwb Rygbi Rhyngwladol,[3] and as a pundit on BBC, ITV and Channel 4 broadcasts as well as third party shows such as "Inside Welsh Rugby", commenting on the grassroots of Welsh rugby.[4] Williams was selected to the Barbarians squad that played Wales in June 2012. It was originally planned to be his last appearance as a player,[5] but he shortly thereafter signed a one-year contract to play in Japan with Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars in June 2012.[6] Williams was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to rugby.[7][8] Williams extended his stay in Japan several times, taking on a role as player-coach and turning down an offer from French Top 14 side Toulon in the process. Before finally announcing he would be returning home at the end of the 2014–15 Japanese Top League season.[9][10][11]

In November 2016, Williams was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame during opening ceremonies for the Hall's first physical home in Rugby, Warwickshire.[12]

  1. ^ "Williams offers scrum-half option". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 27 May 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
  2. ^ "Williams wins top rugby accolade". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 23 November 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
  3. ^ "Y Clwb Rygbi Rhyngwladol | S4C Rygbi". S4c.co.uk. 26 January 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  4. ^ "IWRTV Episode 5". IWRTV. 4 April 2014. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2014.
  5. ^ "Stephen Jones injury blow hits Barbarians for Wales clash". BBC Sport. 21 May 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  6. ^ "Wales great Shane Williams confirms Japan move". BBC Sport. 10 June 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2012.
  7. ^ "No. 60173". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 June 2012. p. 23.
  8. ^ "Queen's Birthday Honours: Luke Donald leads sporting inclusions". BBC Sport. 16 June 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  9. ^ "Shane Williams extends Japan stay, rejecting Toulon offer". BBC Sport. 1 March 2013.
  10. ^ "Shane Williams set to continue as player-coach in Japan". BBC Sport. 17 February 2014.
  11. ^ "Shane Williams: Former Wales wing announces retirement". BBC Sport. 6 November 2014.
  12. ^ "World Rugby Hall of Fame: Jonny Wilkinson attends launch". BBC News Coventry and Warwickshire. 17 November 2016. Retrieved 6 October 2017.