George Williams (rugby union)

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George Williams
Black and white image of Williams wearing his cap posing before a match
Date of birth1856
Place of birthAuckland, New Zealand
Date of death(1925-04-27)27 April 1925
Place of deathWellington, New Zealand
Occupation(s)Police officer
Rugby union career
Position(s) Forward[1]
Amateur team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
Poneke Football Club[2] ()
Provincial / State sides
Years Team Apps (Points)
()
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
1888–89 New Zealand Natives

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

Williams was born in Auckland in 1856, 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][a]

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, and New Zealand.[9] Of these 107 matches, 74 were in the British Isles,[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][b]

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]

Williams' native team cap, donated by his grandson Rob Williams, is held in the collection of the New Zealand Rugby Museum.[20]

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

  1. ^ a b c Swan 1952, p. 157.
  2. ^ a b c d e Ryan 1993, p. 139.
  3. ^ a b Obituary: Mr G. A. Williams.
  4. ^ a b Mulholland 2009, p. 7.
  5. ^ Mulholland 2009, p. 4.
  6. ^ Ryan 1993, p. 14.
  7. ^ a b c d Ryan 1993, pp. 28–29.
  8. ^ Ryan 1993, pp. 39.
  9. ^ Mulholland 2009, p. 6.
  10. ^ Ryan 1993, p. 67.
  11. ^ Ryan 1993, p. 121.
  12. ^ a b Ryan 1993, p. 145.
  13. ^ Ryan 1993, p. 146.
  14. ^ The Auckland Star.
  15. ^ Swansea.
  16. ^ Blackheath.
  17. ^ WorldCat.
  18. ^ Ryan 1993, p. 149.
  19. ^ New Zealand Truth.
  20. ^ "1888 Native Team Representative Cap". NZMuseums. Retrieved 13 February 2023.

Sources

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