RUGBY WORLD MOURNS LOSS OF LIONS STAR
WELSH rugby is in mourning after the death of five-times capped Bridgend backrower Gareth Williams at the age of 63.
The Bedlinog-born Lions forward had been bed-bound for more than a year, fighting a rare nervous system disorder for which there was no cure.
Multiple System Atrophy causes nerve cells in the brain to deteriorate over time, triggering problems with balance, movement and the autonomic nervous system.
Bridgend Ravens, the club Williams will forever be associated with, announced the news that one of the Brewery Field’s most revered players had lost his long battle with the disease.
As a player, the 6ft 4in, 15st 6lb forward who could operate across the back row appeared five times for Wales between 1980-82, debuting against Graham Mourie’s All Blacks and going head to head with the redoubtable No 8 Murray Mexted.
He also figured for the 1980 Lions after joining them as a replacement and was on the field for one of the all-time great tries, started by Swansea’s David Richards and scored against a South African invitation team, when the ball went through 30 pairs of hands before Mike Slemen touched down.
But the team Gareth will always be synonymous with is Bridgend RFC.
He played in four successive Welsh cup finals for the club, including the wins over Pontypridd in 1979 and Swansea in 1980, scoring a try in the first of those showpieces and walking off with the player-of-the-game bauble in the second.
Just six weeks ago, his daugher Nia told WalesOnline about her father’s ongoing battle with the disease as she immersed herself in a fundraising and awareness-raising effort for the MSA Trust by running marathons.
“He’s the strongest person there is,” she said. “The diagnosis came in November 2012 after many years with various symptoms.
“He’s been bed-bound since January 2017 but he’s fighting because that’s the type of person he is – a fighter.
“Every day he wakes with a smile and he is never anything but goodnatured.
“He is an inspiration and I am proud to have him as a dad.”
■ Online tributes: Page 25