Paul Williams (rugby player)

Paul Williams

Player information
Full name	Paul B. Williams
birthday	April 22, 1983
place of birth	Auckland , New Zealand
size	190 cm
society
society	Stade Français
position	Goalkeeper outside three quarters
Clubs as active
Years	society	Games (points)
2001–2005 2006–2008 2009–2010 2010–2011 2011–2018	Ponsonby RFC Marist Albion RC Ponsonby RFC Sale Sharks Stade Français	14 (21) 76 (69)
province
province	currently none
position	Goalkeeper outside three quarters
Provinces as active
Years	province	Games (points)
2006-2008 2009	Canterbury RFU Auckland RFU	27 (40) 11 (20)
franchise
franchise	currently none
Franchises as active
Years	franchise	Games (points)
2003 2007 2008 2009–2010	Highlanders Crusaders Highlanders Blues	6 (5) 0 (0) 13 (21) 24 (37)
National team
Years	National team	Games (points)
2010-2016	Samoa	19 (72)

Paul B. Williams (born April 22, 1983 in Auckland , New Zealand ) is a New Zealand Samoan rugby union player on the position of goalkeeper and outer three quarters . His older brother Gavin Williams is also a New Zealand-Samoan rugby union player. He is also the son of former New Zealand national rugby player Bryan Williams .

Life

Williams went to school at Mount Albert Grammer School in Auckland . In his youth he joined the rugby club Ponsonby RFC , like his father and brother before. In 2001 and 2002 he and his brother were able to win the club championship of the Auckland RFU , the so-called Gallaher Shield , with the Ponsonby RFC .

Although he was not a single game in the still Zealand rugby championship had (NPC) with the Auckland RFU graduated, he was in 2003 as a 19-year-old from the New Zealand franchise Highlanders , in the international Super Rugby League , plays drafted . However, on his sixth mission , he broke his leg. This was the beginning of a three year odyssey as his injury did not heal properly and it also became infected.

After surgery, he joined the Highlanders' squad for the 2004 season as a repeat draft in late 2003 . Shortly before the start of the season, however, he was removed from the squad because the injury had not healed. In August 2004 he therefore underwent another operation on his leg, which is why he was only able to play his first official rugby game in 22 months in February 2005. He played three games for the Blues second team and three games for the Ponsonby RFC, who won the Gallaher Shield at the end of the club season. After these games, however, problems with the leg reappeared, which had to be treated. From September 2005 he played five games for the second team of the Auckland RFU at the end of their season. He was then drafted back into the Highlanders' squad for the 2006 season . But this time he was again removed from the squad shortly before the season because his leg was infected.

In June 2006, after his leg had finally healed, he moved from the Ponsonby RFC and the Auckland RFU to the Christchurcher association Marist Albion RC and the Canterbury RFU . With Canterbury, which came to the quarter-finals of the New Zealand Championship in 2006, he played four games. It was his first competitive game at this level in three years. In 2007 he was then in the squad of the super rugby team Crusaders , for which he did not appear once. For this he played later in the year with Canterbury all season games in the New Zealand championship and reached the semi-finals with the province.

In 2008 he moved back from the Crusaders to the Highlanders, where he played a strong season. He was also New Zealand rugby champion with Canterbury in the same year. After this success, he moved back from Marist Albion RC and Canterbury RFU to Ponsonby RFC and Auckland RFU. He also moved from the Highlanders to the Blues in super rugby. Because of his achievements, he was named Auckland Player of the Year in 2009.

After the 2010 super rugby season , he went to the English club Sale Sharks , which plays in the English Premiership and the European Challenge Cup , after being nominated for the Samoan national team in the same year . Since he has Samoan grandparents and had not yet played an A international for New Zealand, he was eligible to play for Samoa according to the statutes of the world association IRB . His brother Gavin has played for Samoa since 2007.

Williams won the Pacific Nations Cup with Samoa in 2010 and took part with the national team a year later at the Rugby Union World Cup 2011 in his native New Zealand, where they were eliminated in the group stage.

After the World Cup, in 2011 he moved from Sale to the Paris club Stade Français in the French top 14 .

Web links

• Profile on the website of the Stade Français
• Profile on espnscrum.com
• Profile on the side of the blues
• Profile at itsrugby (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ The Paul Williams Career - A Timeline of Events . Crusaders January 8, 2007, archived from the original October 16, 2008 ; accessed on May 5, 2018 (English, original website no longer available).