On This Day: Ali Williams makes his debut...in the English second tier

Depending on who you ask, Ali Williams is either one of the greatest rugby players of the last twenty years, or a bit of a rogue.

Those in the latter camp will be keen to reference Williams’ off-field transgressions, but there’s no denying that the World Cup winner has gained a sterling reputation as one of the premier second rows in world rugby, packing down in the All Blacks engine room on an impressive 77 occasions.

So it came as something of a surprise when, on New Year’s Day 2011, Williams stepped out in the green & white of Nottingham RFC for their championship clash with Moseley. Coming on as a second-half replacement for Ian Kench, the legendary Williams managed to make a complete cock-up of his first foray into the English second-tier, fumbling a simple lineout with his first play of the game. Despite the initial set back, Williams went on to play a crucial role in Tim Streather’s second try en route to a 36-12 victory. Williams would later say of the match: “I was nervous as hell before the game, but after that good as gold… There was some mental baggage no doubt, but this game cleared a lot of it. I’ve got through the week and now I start again.”

The mental baggage in question refers to Williams’ lack of game time and the whole reason for his internship in the English second division. Having been near enough a mainstay in the All Blacks’ side since his debut in 2002 (despite Graham Henry’s best attempts to replace him), Williams had not played for New Zealand since 2008 after being sidelined with an Achilles injury. Having only played approximately three minutes of rugby in the last two years, Williams needed to regain form and fitness in an attempt to force his way into the All Black’s World Cup squad for the upcoming campaign.

Over the month of January, Williams would build up his match time, from 20 minutes in his debut to 40 in the following match against Bristol followed by further increases against Munster and Rotherham. By the time his stint with Nottingham came to an end, Williams had shaken off the ring rust and had cleared the proverbial cobwebs. Referring to his thoughts prior to his first match, the ever-classy Williams said: “I’ve never been as nervous in my life, and I was shitting myself”, but by the end of his stay his sentiments had shifted to the point where he had “got over the mental side of things and proved that [he] can last 80 minutes”.

Confidence restored, Williams returned to Auckland and re-established himself in the Blues side as they reached the Super Rugby semi-finals, ultimately falling short against eventual champions The Reds in Brisbane. In August 2011, Williams was announced as part of the New Zealand World Cup squad, and featured in every match of the tournament including starts against Tonga and Canada, before coming off the bench to replace Sam Whitelock in the final.

Williams would later return to Nottingham as a board member, serving as an advisor in an attempt to steer the club towards the heights of the Premiership. Financial difficulties in the last few years have meant the club hasn’t reached the success it would have liked, but Nottingham supporters will be keen to stress the role their club played in World Cup history.

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