Tom Williams (born 12 October 1983) is an English former rugby union player who played for Harlequins in the Aviva Premiership. He normally played at either full-back or on the wing.
![]() Williams in 2013 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Birth name | Thomas Williams | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 12 October 1983 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Brighton, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 91 kg (14 st 5 lb) [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Early life
editWilliams was born in Brighton and attended Windlesham House School.[2][3] He represented Wales at U16 and U19 levels, then switched to England for the 2002 IRB U19 World Cup.[4]
International career
editWilliams represented England in the 2003-04 World Sevens Series,[5] winning the Hong Kong leg.[6] He also competed in the 2006-07 IRB Sevens World Series.[7]
Club career
editWilliams started and scored a try for Harlequins in their 2011–12 Premiership final victory over Leicester Tigers.[8] He is a member of the “200 Club” having represented Harlequins for over 200 games.
He retired in 2015[2] moving into a coaching and mentoring role at Harlequins for four years before leaving professional rugby in 2019 to pursue a career in consultancy.
Bloodgate
editDuring the 2008–09 Heineken Cup quarter final against Leinster, Williams was told to fake a blood injury by Dean Richards to allow a tactical substitution to reintroduce Nick Evans leading to the bloodgate scandal. This resulted in a 12-month ban for Williams, (reduced to four months on appeal), a three-year ban for former rugby director Dean Richards as well as a two-year ban for physiotherapist Steph Brennan from the ERC with a £260,000 fine for the club.[9]
References
edit- ^ "Harlequins 1st XV". Harlequins. 2011. Archived from the original on 14 December 2008. Retrieved 13 June 2011.
- ^ a b "Tom Williams: Harlequins winger to retire in summer". BBC Sport. 12 May 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
- ^ "Windlesham House School in Washington". Sussex Life. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
- ^ "'Welshman' Williams waits for 'Bloodgate' decision". Wales Online. Media Wales. 17 August 2009. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
- ^ "Williams gets sevens call". Scrum. ESPN. 24 March 2004. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
- ^ "Profile - Tom Williams". Scrum. ESPN. 24 September 2009. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
- ^ "Disappointment for England as they bow out of Hong Kong". RFU. 1 April 2007. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 26 December 2009.
- ^ "Harlequins 30-23 Leicester". BBC Sport. 26 May 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
- ^ "Quins escape further action in bloodgate scandal". Agence France-Presse. 24 August 2009. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2009 – via Google News.
External links
edit- Tom Williams profile England Rugby
- Tom Williams profile Harlequins