Ali Williams Bio

Ali Williams is a former lock who was capped 77 times by the All Blacks. Despite playing most of his domestic career in New Zealand, he also represented Toulon and Racing 92. Ali Williams was inducted into the RugbyPass Hall of Fame in 2021.

Born 30 April 1981, Ali Williams didn’t start playing rugby until he was 17. Instead, he spent most of his junior career representing Auckland at football, tennis and cricket. However, he quickly found he excelled at rugby and he was selected to play for Auckland for the first time in 2001.

Ali Williams then spent most of his senior career with Auckland. In two stints with the club (2001-07 and 2009-2013), he represented the side 35 times. He also enjoyed one season with Tasman in 2008.

Although he did feature in the National Provincial Championship, Ali Williams spent most of his career playing Super Rugby for the Blues (2002-07 and 2009-2013) and the Crusaders (2008). During this time, he made more than 100 appearances in the competition. However, following the conclusion of his contract with the Blues in 2013, Ali Williams left New Zealand and signed for Toulon. He then stayed with the French giants until his retirement in 2015. That said, he did briefly come out of retirement in 2016 to represent Racing 92.