The new life of Owain Williams and a rugby tale touched by trauma
WHEN it comes to telling Owain Williams’ story, the issue is where to begin.
His rugby career is a tale in itself.
He’s a member of Wales’ one-cap club, a fact which still leaves a bitter taste in his mouth.
He played more than 500 games over an 18-year club career, he appeared in the first Heineken Cup final and the last game at the old National Stadium.
And he’s also been the subject of the “What Happened Next?” round on A Question of Sport.
But there is a lot more to tell aside from the rugby.
He has one of the most unusual jobs of any former Welsh international, being in charge of the set construction for the TV show Casualty.
Then there is the personal trauma.
He had to have his right eye removed after being diagnosed with a tumour and has had to undergo further surgery on his liver in the battle against cancer.
Then, two years ago, he lost his brother and hero, former Wales and Lions star Gareth, to a rare disease, an experience he describes as “absolutely horrendous”.
As I say, where to begin. Perhaps the best place is at the beginning.
The youngest of five children, Williams was born in Ogmore-by-Sea and went to Brynteg Comprehensive, where he made his mark in rugby, starring in the Grand Slam-winning Wales Schools U18s team of 1983.
A four-year spell with Glamorgan Wanderers followed ahead of a season in Australia in 1988, when he played for the Wests club in Brisbane and appeared for Queensland against both New Zealand and England.
“I just felt the need to get away from Wales,” explains the former back rower.
“I was asked to stay in Queensland, not with a promise of an Australian cap, but that was sort of implied.
“But all I wanted to do was come home and play for Wales.”
That he did, making his Test debut against Namibia on the summer tour of 1990, having returned from Down Under to spend four years with Bridgend.
Little did he realise it at the time, but that outing in Windhoek would prove to be his only appearance for his country.
“Once you have one cap, you want more,” he says. “It was never explained why I wasn’t involved again.
“So, it always left a little bit of a bitter taste really.
“I should have gone on the Australia tour in 1991. I was playing good rugby and I knew a lot of their players from my time out there.
“Then Alan Davies came in after that and he never spoke to me. None of that coaching team did really. I was never given any instruction what I needed to do.
“Having been capped out in Namibia, I didn’t get to stand in the national stadium in front of the Welsh crowd singing the anthem.
“So, I feel a bit bitter about it, but also very lucky that I got to play for Wales. I got the cap, it was a great moment, a feeling of fantastic pride.
“It’s a little bit of both really.”
Joining Cardiff in 1992, he went on to play in the first Heineken Cup final against Toulouse at the National Stadium in 1996 and was back there the following year for the final game at the old ground, the Welsh Cup final victory over Swansea, when Nigel Walker scored a famous try.
“I am sure I was the one that gave him that ball. It was all my work!” he quips. “That was a great period.”
He made 221 appearances for Cardiff over nine years, scoring 41 tries, while he also played for the Barbarians and had the honour of captaining Wales in Sevens, a version of the game he loved and excelled at.
And then there was the surreal episode when he was sin-binned along with Llanelli’s Ian Boobyer during a 2000 Heineken Cup match - by mistake!
“We were sent to the bin for ten minutes, but then called back after two minutes because they realised it didn’t exist in that tournament,” he recalls.
“I had no idea what was going on. I didn’t know half the rules anyway!
“I think it popped up on A Question of Sport one year in the ‘ What happened next?’ section.
“I’d like to think we hold the record for the shortest sin-binning ever!”
He also came close to joining Saracens in around 1996, only for the move to fall through.
“They got Francois Pienaar instead of me!” he declares.
As for the best players he played with, he picks out the “fantastic” Hemi Taylor and former Bridgend flanker David Bryant – “a class player who never got the praise his ability warranted” – while he goes for Mark Perego and Martyn Morris as his most difficult opponents.
After hanging up his boots in 2001, he headed