Who is J.J.Williams?
J.J.Williams was a member of the great Welsh Rugby team of the seventies. He played
thirty consecutive games for Wales and scored twelve tries in Five Nations Rugby
playing on the wing; he won four consecutive Triple Crowns and two Grand Slams. He
also toured with the British Lions in 1974 to South Africa, and 1977 to New Zealand.
It was on the unbeaten tour of South Africa that he scored four tries and the test
series, becoming the only player to achieve that feat. He also scored six tries in
one provincial match, which equalled the Lions Record. On the tour of New Zealand
he scored the winning try in the second Test Victory to equal the series. He is the
second highest try scorer in the history of British Lions rugby.
After playing for the Welsh Schools team at Outside Half, he started his club career at Bridgend R.F.C before moving to Llanelli in 1972. In his first season at Stradey Park, he played in the famous victory over the touring New Zealand All Blacks. Throughout his club career at Bridgend and Llanelli, he managed to win four Cup Finals, three Championships, two Snelling Sevens and two Floodlight Alliance trophies. He also played ten games for the Barbarians, and also two games for Natal in South Africa.
He was a dual sports International, where after winning the British Schools 100m, and 200m titles, he concentrated on his athletics, and went on to represent Wales at the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, and also in the same year represented Great Britain in the World Student Games in Turin. He was the Welsh Sprint Champion for a number of years, but eventually decided to concentrate on his first love which was of course – rugby.
His sporting achievements have continued through his three Children. His daughter Kathryn and elder son James are both Welsh International athletes. James is the present Captain of Cardiff Athletics Club, and runs the 1500m and Steeplechase. Kathryn is a Great Britain Junior International at 400m Hurldes. Youngest son Rhys is the new star of the family. He is number one 400m hurdler in Great Britain, he is also the new Welsh Record holder and came fourth at the recent Commonwealth Games in Melbourne.
©JJ Williams 2006
The new star of the family, Rhys.