Williams was born in Llwynypia into a farming community in the Rhondda Valley and in his early years he lived in at the Tonypandy Inn.

Williams was brought into a much changed pack to face Ireland, the first meeting between the two countries in a rugby union match.

Cardiff decided to play both, dropping a player from the pack to accommodate four threequarters, rather than the traditional three, changing the formation of their rugby team.

This formation was trialed by Wales, with Hancock as captain in 1886, and adopted by the international side in 1888, before becoming a worldwide tactic that continues to this day.

[8] On the day, after observing the Haka, Teddy Morgan led the Welsh team in singing the national anthem, which was quickly picked up by the crowd.

He umpired a single international match, the 1904 encounter between England and Ireland in the Home Nations Championship, played at the Rectory Field in Blackheath.