J.P.R. Williams

J.P.R. Williams

J.P.R. Williams
Full name	John Peter Rhys Williams
Date of birth	2 March 1949 (1949-03-02)
Place of birth	Bridgend, Wales
School	Brynteg Comprehensive School
University	St Mary's Hospital, London
Occupation(s)	Surgeon
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Fullback
Amateur clubs
Years	Club / team
	Bridgend RFC London Welsh RFC Barbarian F.C. Natal Tondu RFC
National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
1969–1981 1971–1974	Wales British Lions	55 8	(36) (3)

Mr John Peter Rhys Williams, MBE, FRCS (born 2 March 1949), is a British surgeon who was a very successful rugby union player. He was known universally as J.P.R. Williams (or sometimes just as JPR, to distinguish him from teammate J. J. Williams, also John). He played for Wales between 1969 and 1981. Playing in the position of fullback, he was noted for his aggressive attacking style. With his long sideburns and socks around his ankles, "JPR" was an iconic figure on the legendary 1970s Wales team.

Early life

Williams was born just outside Bridgend, Wales, and was educated at Bridgend Boys Grammar School (now Brynteg Comprehensive School) and then Millfield School in Somerset, as was his Wales team mate Gareth Edwards. As well as being a rugby player, Williams was in his youth a talented tennis player; there is a popular urban myth that he won Junior Wimbledon in 1966 (in fact it was won by a Soviet, Vladimir Korotkov). However, he did win a British Junior competition that was held that same year at the Wimbledon venue, the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, beating David Lloyd.

Williams replaced tennis for rugby union, which was an amateur sport, in order to pursue a career in medicine. He quickly attracted attention and was consequently first capped by Wales in 1969, aged 19. He went on to earn 55 caps for Wales, five as captain and eight for the British Lions. He played club rugby for Bridgend and London Welsh. He also played a few games for Natal shortly after the 1974 Lions tour.

Rugby career

He had many high points in his career, being a key player in a Welsh side that won Grand Slams in 1971, 1976, and 1978, and is particularly remembered for his record against England. In 10 tests between Wales and England he scored five tries - exceptional for a fullback - and was never on the losing side. He was also outstanding for the Lions, winning the 1971 series against New Zealand with a long-range drop-goal and playing a major role in the 1974 'invincible' series against South Africa.

In 1977 he was awarded the MBE for services to Rugby.

Williams retired from international rugby union in 1981 and continued his career as an orthopaedic surgeon. He continued playing club rugby for many years, playing throughout the 1980s and 1990s for Bridgend and then for Tondu Thirds into his fifties. He finally hung up his boots in March 2003. He now lives in the Vale of Glamorgan and is president of the Bridgend Ravens.

Williams was one of the inaugural inductees of the International Rugby Hall of Fame in 1997.

Retirement

After retirement, he sought the nomination to become a Conservative Party potential parliamentary candidate in Cardiff North; but failed. In January 2006, in a party of 16 Welsh men and women, he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania for charity, helping to raise more than £200,000 for the NSPCC's 'Full Stop' Campaign.

In his medical career, he qualified as a doctor in 1973 and became a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1980.

Quotations

In his introduction to the second autobiography of JPR Williams, former London Welsh and Wales team-mate John Dawes says:

JPR had all the requirements to become a great. He was talented, brave, committed and totally uncompromising. His impact on the game was immediate and long-standing. By 1974 he had travelled with Wales to New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, and Canada. He was an outstanding member of two victorious Lions tours - to New Zealand in 1971 and South Africa in 1974. JPR was an established icon.

JPR Williams, commenting on his dual speciality in rugby and medicine:

I used to say that I spent half my life breaking bones on the rugby field, then the other half putting them back together in the operating theatre.

Gerald Davies, on the 1971 Lions tour, in his autobiography:

Behind us all was the immovable J.P.R. Williams, whose commitment to a competition borders on the frightening. His immense presence gave us as a team strength and total confidence. New Zealand are fond of kicking the high ball at the full back to expose a team's vulnerability and destroy its morale. Most players, I am sure, are reluctant to deal with such a tactic and perhaps give only 75% of their commitment to it - the other 25% is thinking of what might happen. JPR gave 100% of his attention to the act of taking that ball. But more than that, once having retrieved it his thoughts were not entirely defensive and he would look to the options for attack. His style of play added another dimension to the role of the full back and to the possibilities open to any team in which he played.

In 2002, Tim Glover of The Independent likened London Irish centre Brendan Venter to JPR:

No doctor has played rugby with such a wilful disregard for his own wellbeing since J P R Williams, complete with bloodied headband, was charging around the old Arms Park like a wounded bison.

Welsh honours and statistics

• First cap, February 1, 1969, Murrayfield, Scotland (Scotland 3 - Wales 17)
• His fifty-five caps comprised 37 wins, four draws, and 14 defeats
• Won the Grand Slam in 1971, 1976 and 1978
• Won the Triple Crown in 1969, 1971, 1976, 1977, 1978 and 1979
• Scored 36 points (five four-point tries and one three-point try; three penalty goals and two conversions)
• Captained Wales five times (1978-79 - Championship and Triple Crown Season)
• Final cap, February 7, 1981, Murrayfield, Scotland (Scotland 15 - Wales 6)

(Source)

External links

• J.P.R. Williams, WRU profile
• Whatever happened to... J.P.R. Williams?, Eddie Butler, The Observer 3 February 2002
• 100 Welsh Heros: #24 J.P.R. Williams
• Small talk: J.P.R. Williams, Paul Doyle, The Guardian, 6 October 2006
• J.P.R. Williams, full back, BBC News, 18 March 2005
• Gavin Henson interview: J.P.R. Williams, The Observer, 6 November 2005