George Williams (rugby union)

George Albert Williams (1856–27 April 1925) was a New Zealand rugby union player who toured with the 1888–89 New Zealand Native football team to the British Isles and Australia.[3] Nicknamed "Bully", Williams was one of five non-Māori players in the Natives' side.[4]

George Williams

Date of birth	1856
Place of birth	Auckland, New Zealand
Date of death	(1925-04-27)27 April 1925
Place of death	Wellington, New Zealand
Occupation(s)	Police officer
Rugby union career
Position(s) Forward[1] Amateur team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) Poneke Football Club[2] () Provincial / State sides Years Team Apps (Points) 1886–88[1] 1887[2] Wellington Hawke's Bay () National team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 1888–89 New Zealand Natives

Williams was born in Auckland in 1856, and did not start playing rugby until the age of 24.[2] He was a member of the Wellington club Poneke, and was selected for Wellington province from the club in 1886, 1887 and 1888.[1]

In early 1888, Joe Warbrick, a member of the 1884 New Zealand team that toured Australia,[5] started planning for a squad of Māori rugby players to tour the British Isles.[6] As Warbrick was scouting for players throughout 1888, his plans changed, and he decided to include a number of Pākehā (European non-Māori) in the side.[4] Eventually five Pākehā were included in the squad of twenty-six, and the side was consequently named the New Zealand Native football team.[7][lower-alpha 1]

At 32, Williams was the oldest player in the team,[7] and only joined a day before their first match.[8] The tour became the longest in rugby history; 107 matches were played during the 14-month tour, which had legs in Australia, the British Isles, and New Zealand.[9] Of these 107 matches, 74 were in the British Isles,[10] and an average of a game every 2.3 days on that leg.[11] Williams played in 53 of these,[12] scoring 12 tries in the process,[13] and captained the team on a number of occasions.[7] In total, Williams played at least 75 matches on tour (a number of team lists are missing).[12]

Williams played in all three of the Natives' "international" matches while on tour; a victory over Ireland,[14] a narrow loss to Wales,[15] and a controversial loss to England.[16][lower-alpha 2]

Williams retired as a player after the tour, but continued to be involved in the game as a referee. Along with two other players, he contributed to tour manager Thomas Eyton's Rugby Football Past and Present, published in 1896,[17] that gave an account of the tour.[18] He contributed a number of article to the New Zealand Truth before the departure of the 1924 All Blacks.[19] Outside of rugby, Williams was a police officer, and was involved in the arrest of the Maori spiritual leader Te Whiti o Rongomai.[2] He served throughout New Zealand, including in Wellington, Hastings, Invercargill and Marlborough.[2][3]