Ron Williams

Ron Williams was a loosehead prop specialist who became a stalwart member of North Harbour representatitive sides after that union had broken away from Auckland in 1985. When he retired at the end of the 1994 season Williams had amassed 145 games for Harbour, which is a record tally he now shares with Walter Little.

Though the bulk of his representative rugby was with Harbour Williams actually started with Auckland while his club, Northcote, was still under that union. A protege of scrummaging master Snow White, Williams showed promise as a colt and after a national under 21 trial in 1983 he was taken on Auckland’s centennial tour, early in 1984, of Britain, France and the United States.

Another youngster blooded on that tour was Sean Fitzpatrick. Like Fitzpatrick, Williams appeared in only two of the matches.

He quickly developed as Harbour moved up through the NPC third division and then for two seasons in the second division. By 1988 he had gained a place in the All Black trials from which he was chosen for the tour of Australia that year.

Williams was unlucky during his stint in the All Blacks that the first choice at loosehead prop, Steve McDowell, was then in his prime and accordingly Williams got only limited chances.

Williams played in six of the matches in Australia. In 1989, having played in the final trial and once for the North zone, he acted as a reserve in the domestic tests against France, Argentina and Australia.

In those years of substitution only for injury he did not take the field and that was the closest he came to winning a test cap for New Zealand. He went on the tour of Ireland and Wales later in the year and gained some early, unwanted limelight when he and another forward, Andy Earl, had an angry scuffle during an open training session.

But during this tour he quickly fell from favour and appeared in only four of the 14 matches with McDowell preferred for even some of the midweek matches.

Williams was never again an All Black though he did appear in further trials in 1990 and 1992.

He continued to excel for Harbour, playing in all three of their Ranfurly Shield challenges against Auckland in 1988-90-92, in the victory over France in 1994 at Eden Park following earlier international appearances for the union against Australia (1990) and the Lions (1993).

His last major game was for Harbour in the infamous NPC final, the Battle of the Onewa Domain, in 1994.

Williams was born in Suva and had some Fijian ancestry. Towards the end of his career he played for Fiji briefly at test level.