AI tools
Loading AI tools

Shane Williams is a Welsh rugby union player who appeared 87 times for the Wales national team from 2000 to 2011.[1] Playing exclusively as a wing for Wales,[1] Williams scored 58 tries, the most for any Wales international and 13 more than second-placed George North. Williams also made four appearances for the British & Irish Lions, three as a wing and one as a centre.[2] Williams scored two tries for the Lions, both from the wing during their victory over South Africa (also known as the 'Springboks') in the third Test of their 2009 tour of South Africa.[2] At his retirement, Williams' 60 international tries placed him third on the worldwide all-time list, trailing Daisuke Ohata of Japan and David Campese of Australia; as of March 2018, he stands fourth, with South Africa's Bryan Habana having surpassed Williams and Campese for second place.[3]

Thumb
Shane Williams, pictured in 2008 with his club team, Ospreys

Williams made his international debut on 5 February 2000 against France in the opening round of the 2000 Six Nations Championship at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. His first try for Wales came in the next round of the Six Nations against Italy, also at Millennium Stadium.[4] Williams went on to score tries in the 2003, 2007 and 2011 editions of the World Cup. His final try for Wales came literally at the end of his international career, as he scored on the final play of his last Test on 3 December 2011 against Australia at Millennium Stadium.[5] This try was his 28th at Millennium Stadium, surpassing Rory Underwood of England, with 27 at Twickenham, for the most international tries scored by a player from one of the ten "Tier 1" nations at a single ground. Among players from all nations, Williams is level with Ohata, who scored 28 tries at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium in Tokyo.[6]

Williams holds several other try records, both for Wales and internationally. His 30 tries away from his home country (including those at neutral sites) were the most for any player in history at the time of his retirement,[6] though that record has since been broken by Habana.[7] He leads Wales in tries at home (30), away (21), on neutral ground (7), and in the Rugby World Cup (10).[6] Williams was most prolific against Italy, Japan and Scotland, scoring nine tries against each team; he retired with the record for most tries by an opposing player against each of these nations.[6] He also retired with the most tries by any European player against both Australia (6) and South Africa (5). All of his tries against the Springboks were on South African soil, which at the time of his retirement tied him with New Zealanders Christian Cullen and Joe Rokocoko for the most overall.[6] His six tries against Argentina left him level with France's Serge Blanco and Émile Ntamack for the most by a European player.[6]

Williams has scored multiple tries in a single international match on 14 occasions, including two hat-tricks. The first of these was a four-try effort against Japan at Kintetsu Hanazono Rugby Stadium in Osaka during a 2001 Wales tour.[8] The second was against Argentina at José Amalfitani Stadium in Buenos Aires during Wales' 2004 tour.[9] Williams scored tries against 14 countries, including all of the other nine "Tier 1" nations.[4]

Key

  • Won denotes that the match was won by the side for which Williams was playing.
  • Lost denotes that the match was lost by the side for which Williams was playing.
  • Drawn denotes that the match was drawn.
  • ‡ denotes tries that were scored while playing for the British & Irish Lions.

International tries

More information Try, Opposing team ...
International rugby union tries by Shane Williams
Try Opposing team Venue Competition Date Result Score Ref(s).
1  ItalyMillennium Stadium, Cardiff2000 Six Nations Championship19 February 2000Won47–16[10]
2  Scotland18 March 2000Won26–18[11]
3
4  SamoaTest match11 November 2000Won50–6[12]
5
6  JapanKintetsu Hanazono Rugby Stadium, Osaka10 June 2001Won64–10[13]
7
8
9
10  JapanChichibunomiya Rugby Stadium, Tokyo17 June 2001Won53–30[14]
11  RomaniaRacecourse Ground, Wrexham27 August 2003Won54–8[15]
12
13  New ZealandStadium Australia, Sydney2003 Rugby World Cup2 November 2003Lost37–53[16]
14  ItalyMillennium Stadium, Cardiff2004 Six Nations Championship27 March 2004Won44–10[17]
15
16  ArgentinaJosé Amalfitani Stadium, Buenos AiresTest match19 June 2004Won35–20[18]
17
18
19  South AfricaLoftus Versfeld, Pretoria26 June 2004Lost18–53[19]
20  JapanMillennium Stadium, Cardiff26 November 2004Won98–0[20]
21
22  England2005 Six Nations Championship5 February 2005Won11–9[21]
23  ItalyStadio Flaminio, Rome12 February 2005Won38–8[22]
24  ScotlandMurrayfield, Edinburgh13 March 2005Won46–22[23]
25  AustraliaMillennium Stadium, CardiffTest match26 November 2005Won24–22[24]
26  ArgentinaJosé Amalfitani Stadium, Buenos Aires17 June 2006Lost27–45[25]
27  AustraliaMillennium Stadium, Cardiff4 November 2006Drawn29–29[26]
28  Canada17 November 2006Won61–26[27]
29  ItalyStadio Flaminio, Rome2007 Six Nations Championship10 March 2007Lost20–23[28]
30  CanadaStade de la Beaujoire, Nantes2007 Rugby World Cup9 September 2007Won42–17[29]
31
32  AustraliaMillennium Stadium, Cardiff15 September 2007Lost20–32[30]
33  Japan20 September 2007Won72–18[31]
34
35  FijiStade de la Beaujoire, Nantes29 September 2007Lost34–38[32]
36  ScotlandMillennium Stadium, Cardiff2008 Six Nations Championship9 February 2008Won30–15[33]
37
38  Italy23 February 2008Won47–8[34]
39
40  IrelandCroke Park, Dublin8 March 2008Won16–12[35]
41  FranceMillennium Stadium, Cardiff15 March 2008Won29–12[36]
42  South AfricaFree State Stadium, BloemfonteinPrince William Cup7 June 2008Lost17–43[37][38]
43 Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria14 June 2008Lost21–37[39]
44  AustraliaMillennium Stadium, CardiffJames Bevan Trophy29 November 2008Won21–18[40]
45  ScotlandMurrayfield, Edinburgh2009 Six Nations Championship8 February 2009Won26–13[41]
46  ItalyStadio Flaminio, Rome14 March 2009Won20–15[42]
47‡  South AfricaEllis Park Stadium, Johannesburg2009 British & Irish Lions tour to South Africa4 July 2009Won28–9[43]
48‡
49  ArgentinaMillennium Stadium, CardiffTest match21 November 2009Won33–16[44]
50
51  Scotland2010 Six Nations Championship13 February 2010Won31–24[45]
52  France26 February 2010Lost20–26[46]
53  Italy20 March 2010Won33–10[47]
54  ScotlandMurrayfield, Edinburgh2011 Six Nations Championship12 February 2011Won24–6[48]
55
56  EnglandTwickenham, LondonTest match6 August 2011Lost19–23[49]
57  SamoaWaikato Stadium, Hamilton2011 Rugby World Cup18 September 2011Won17–10[50]
58  IrelandWellington Regional Stadium, Wellington8 October 2011Won22–10[51]
59  AustraliaEden Park, Auckland21 October 2011Lost18–21[52]
60 Millennium Stadium, CardiffJames Bevan Trophy3 December 2011Lost18–24[53]
Close

References

Wikiwand in your browser!

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.

Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.

Chrome
Wikiwand for Chrome
Edge
Wikiwand for Edge
Firefox
Wikiwand for Firefox