Chester Williams

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Chester Williams
Chester Williams 2018.jpg
Chester Williams in 2018
Birth nameChester Mornay Williams
Date of birth(1970-08-08)8 August 1970
Place of birth Paarl, South Africa
Date of death6 September 2019(2019-09-06) (aged 49)
Place of death Cape Town, South Africa
Weight84 kg (13 st 3 lb)
Notable relative(s) Avril Williams (uncle)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Wing
Provincial / State sides
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1991–1998 Western Province 63 (-)
1999 Golden Lions ()
Super Rugby
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1999–2000 Cats 18 (35)
International career
YearsTeamApps(Points)
1993–2000 South Africa 27 (70)
National sevens team
YearsTeamComps
1993–2001 South Africa 11
Coaching career
YearsTeam
2001–2003 South Africa 7's
2004–2005 Cats
2006 Uganda
2007-2006 Mpumalanga Pumas
2007–2012 Tunisia
2012–2013 RCM Timişoara

Chester Mornay Williams (8 August 1970 – 6 September 2019) [1] was a South African rugby union player. He played as a winger for the South Africa national rugby union team (Springboks) from 1993 to 2000, most notably for the team that won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, which was hosted in South Africa. He was the only non-white player on the team. During the tournament he scored four tries for South Africa in its quarter-final match and also appeared in the semi-final and final. Domestically he played rugby for the Western Province in the Currie Cup.

Contents

After retiring, Williams pursued a career in coaching, including a spell with the South Africa national rugby sevens team, the Uganda national rugby union team, and the University of the Western Cape. He was portrayed by McNeil Hendricks in the 2009 Clint Eastwood film Invictus , a biographical sports drama film about the events in South Africa before and during the 1995 Rugby World Cup, and he also helped to coach Matt Damon and other actors for the rugby scenes used in the film. Williams died from a suspected heart attack on 6 September 2019 at the age of 49.

Playing career

International

Williams is best known as the star winger of the South Africa national Springbok team that won the 1995 Rugby World Cup against New Zealand and was nicknamed "The Black Pearl". [2] Williams was selected in the initial squad, but had to withdraw due to injury. He was later called back into the squad and played in the quarter-final, scoring four tries, [2] followed by the semi-final and the final against New Zealand, which South Africa won 15–12. [3]

Williams was 1.74 metres (5 feet 9 inches) tall with a playing weight of 84 kilograms (185 lb). He was the first non-white player to be included in the Springboks squad since Errol Tobias and his uncle Avril Williams in the early 1980s. [4] The selection of non-white players was not common in South Africa before 1992 because of the country's policy of apartheid, and there were separate governing bodies for whites, blacks, and coloureds. [5]

He made his debut for the Springboks at the age of 23 against Argentina on 13 November 1993 in Buenos Aires, a game that the Springboks went on to win 52–23 and in which he also scored a try. Williams was on the Springboks team that won the 1995 Rugby World Cup, notably scoring four tries against Western Samoa in the quarter-finals. His Boks career, hampered by knee injuries in 1996 and 1997, ended with a 23–13 win against Wales on 26 November 2000 in Cardiff. In total he played 27 games for the Springboks, scoring 14 tries and a total of 70 points. [6] His honours included a Currie Cup win in 1999, with the Golden Lions, [2] a Tri-Nations title in 1998 (albeit that he only made two short appearances as substitute) [7] and the World Cup win in 1995. [2]

Provincial

Domestically, Williams played rugby with the Western Province, appearing 63 times between 1991 and 1998, wearing jersey number 11. He then went on to win the Currie Cup with the Golden Lions in 1999. [2]

Test history

  World Cup Final

No.OppositionResult
(SA 1st)		PositionTriesDateVenue
1.Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 52–23 Wing 113 Nov 1993 Ferro Carril Oeste Stadium, Buenos Aires
2.Flag of England.svg  England 15–32Wing4 Jun 1994 Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
3.Flag of England.svg  England 27–9Wing11 Jun 1994 Newlands, Cape Town
4.Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 14–22Wing9 Jul 1994 Carisbrook, Dunedin
5.Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 9–13Wing23 Jul 1994 Athletic Park, Wellington
6.Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 18–18Wing6 Aug 1994 Eden Park, Auckland
7.Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 42–22Wing18 Oct 1994 Boet Erasmus Stadium, Port Elizabeth
8.Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 46–26Wing115 Oct 1994 Ellis Park, Johannesburg
9.Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland 34–10Wing119 Nov 1994 Murrayfield, Edinburgh
10.Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 20–12Wing126 Nov 1994 Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff
11.Flag of Samoa.svg  Samoa 60–8Wing213 Apr 1995Ellis Park, Johannesburg
12.Flag of Samoa.svg  Samoa 42–14Wing410 Jun 1995Ellis Park, Johannesburg
13.Flag of France.svg  France 19–15Wing17 Jun 1995 Kings Park, Durban
14.Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 15–12Wing 24 Jun 1995 Ellis Park, Johannesburg
15.Flag of Italy.svg  Italy 40–21Wing12 Nov 1995 Stadio Olimpico, Rome
16.Flag of England.svg  England 24–14Wing218 Nov 1995 Twickenham, London
17.Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 14–13Substitute18 July 1998 Subiaco Oval, Perth
18.Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 13–3Substitute25 July 1998 Athletic Park, Wellington
19.Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 51–18Substitute10 Jun 2000 Basil Kenyon Stadium, East London
20.Flag of England.svg  England 18–13Substitute17 Jun 2000Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
21.Flag of England.svg  England 22–27Substitute24 Jun 2000 Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein
22.Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 23–44Substitute8 Jul 2000 Colonial Stadium, Melbourne
23.Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 46–40Wing119 Aug 2000Ellis Park, Johannesburg
24.Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia 18–19Wing16 Aug 2000Kings Park, Durban
25.Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 37–33Wing12 Nov 2000 River Plate Stadium, Buenos Aires
26.IRFU flag.svg  Ireland 28–18Wing19 Nov 2000 Lansdowne Road, Dublin
27.Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales 23–13Substitute16 Nov 2000 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff

Biography

In 2002, Williams released his controversial authorised biography, simply titled Chester, in which he claimed that he was shunned by some of his team mates in the 1995 Springbok squad and was called racist names by James Small, [8] though he later clarified, "When we were together as a team, the team-spirit was good. We partied together, we had fun together, we stuck by one another. Those other things happened while we were playing against one another in the Currie Cup or domestic competitions. But that's in the past now. We have all moved on and everybody's happy." [9]

Clint Eastwood directed Invictus , which is about the 1995 Rugby World Cup and how it helped South Africa heal after years of apartheid. It features many scenes involving Chester, portrayed by McNeil Hendricks, including his face on the side of an SAA aeroplane. It also showed several scenes showing black children in South Africa idolising him, although author John Carlin has questioned the accuracy of this as Williams in fact identified as coloured rather than black. Carlin also wrote that during the team's visit to a township, Mark Andrews had attracted more attention than Williams as he was able to speak Xhosa. [10] Williams himself worked as one of the film's rugby coaches, alongside Dubai-based coach Rudolf de Wee, a childhood friend whom he recruited to the film. Williams and de Wee worked with the actors, including Matt Damon, in recreating the games depicted in the film. [11]

Williams was selected to carry the Olympic torch on behalf of South Africa on two occasions, the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. [12]

In 2010, Williams completed the Absa Cape Epic mountain bike stage race, joining several former Springbok Rugby players who have also taken on the rugged challenge of the Untamed African MTB Race. [13]

Williams died on 6 September 2019, at the age of 49, from a suspected heart attack. [14] He was the fourth player from the 1995 world-cup-winning side to die, after Ruben Kruger, Joost van der Westhuizen, and James Small, the last having died two months before Williams. [15]

Coaching career

In 2001 Williams was selected as the coach of the South African sevens team that won bronze at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and ended runners up in the World Sevens Series. He remained sevens coach until 2003. [16]

Despite having almost no experience at coaching the fifteen-man code at any senior level, Williams was mentioned as one of the possible successors to Springbok coach Rudolf Straeuli after he resigned in 2003, but the job was given to Jake White in 2004. [13] He became coach of the Cats Super 12 team instead. He remained coach until July 2005 when he was fired after a series of poor results, when the Cats finished next-to-last in the 2005 super 12, achieving only one victory. However, in 2006, he was brought back into the South African coaching ranks as the head coach of the national "A" side (a developmental side for the Boks). [17] Also in 2006, he spent a successful few months as coach of the Uganda national rugby union team, the Cranes. [18]

He was named as the new coach of the Pumas, the team representing Mpumalanga in the Currie Cup, on 7 September 2006. He signed a two-year deal with the team, effective 1 October 2006, but resigned as coach in mid-2007. When White stepped down as the national coach in 2008, Williams was again in the running to replace him, but the job instead went to Peter de Villiers. [13]

Williams lastly was head coach of University of the Western Cape in Varsity Rugby. Under his leadership UWC won the 2017 Varsity Shield competition. [19]

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Springbok legend Chester Williams dies". Spiort24. News24. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "WP Rugby pay tribute to 'icon' Chester Williams". Sport24 . 7 September 2019.
  3. ↑ Daniel Schofield (6 September 2019). "Former South Africa winger and 1995 World Cup winner Chester Williams dies, aged 49". The Daily Telegraph .
  4. ↑ Patrick McPartlin (6 September 2019). "Chester Williams, 1995 Rugby World Cup hero and former South Africa wing, dies at 49". The Scotsman .
  5. ↑ Hopkins, John (1979). Rugby. p. 20. ISBN   0-304-30299-6.
  6. ↑ "Chester Williams", ESPN
  7. ↑ "Chester SA's most famous?". Independent Online .
  8. ↑ Keohane, Mark (2002). Chester – A Biography of Courage. Don Nelson. ISBN   1-86806-209-0.
  9. ↑ "Chester Williams: Win of change". Gulfnews.com. 9 December 2010. Retrieved 8 December 2013.[ dead link ]
  10. ↑ Alex von Tunzelmann (3 October 2013). "Invictus: better on Nelson Mandela than rugby". The Guardian .
  11. ↑ Melanie Swan (19 March 2010). "Man who taught Matt Damon rugby now teaches in the UAE". The National .
  12. ↑ "Chester to carry Olympic torch for SA". Sport24 . 13 May 2016.
  13. 1 2 3 Luke Daniel (6 September 2019). "Springbok legend Chester Williams dies at age 49". The South African .
  14. ↑ Jack de Menezes (6 September 2019). "Chester Williams death: South African rugby great dies of suspected heart attack, aged 49". The Independent .
  15. ↑ "Chester Williams: South Africa World Cup winner dies aged 49". BBC Sport . 6 September 2019.
  16. ↑ Grant Shub (8 December 2017). "Chester Williams chats to Sport24". Sport24 .
  17. ↑ News | Rugby News Archived 9 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ↑ "Rugby coach Chester Williams quits". New Vision . 15 September 2006.
  19. ↑ Mariette Adams (10 April 2017). "UWC crowned Varsity Shield champs". SA Rugby Mag.
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