Randall certainly leads by example

Randall Williams is currently in his fourth successive year as captain of Whitland RFC where he certainly leads by example from his position at No 8 as the Borderers continue to do well in Division One (West) of the WRU set-up.
Randall has been heavily involved at Parc Llwyn Ty Gwyn for about a decade now, interspersed by regular visits to New Zealand, where he met his wife Christy, and their 16 month old son Taine is named after former All Black captain (and No 8) Taine Randell!

Taste of English Rugby

He also enjoyed a taste of English Rugby last season when he had four games for Wasps A and helped them win a section of their competition so that he received a medal, his jersey as a memento and the rest of his kit. He had received a phone call from Leon Holden, whom he had met in New Zealand, asking if he was interested in a few games and found himself turning out under floodlights on a Monday evening against their counterparts from Harlequins.
He was gob-smacked when Ian McGeehan and Sean Edwards gave the pre-match talk and he found himself playing alongside the likes of Mark van Gisbergen, Tom Voyce, Dan Leho, Joe Ward and Richard Birkett, all recovering from injury and having a run out – whilst the opposition included Andy Gomersall at No 9 and several other first teamers! Perhaps that was why the pace was so fast because Randall readily admits that he was struggling for the first ten minutes before he adapted to the speed that the ball was moved about. The Wasps eventually won 15-8 and Randall was even more amazed when Lawrence Delaglio came into the changing rooms afterwards, walked over and said well done to him!
There followed other games against Gloucester and then Northampton home and away – and it certainly gave Randall an insight into the smooth way that the English top clubs run their systems.

Doing well back at Whitland

The Borderers are currently fifth in the section table and doing well, although, like all good captains, Randall says that they should be doing much better. He still enjoys himself playing there with Domenico Setaro as coach and although he doesn’t mind giving the team talks he says that he prefers leading by example on the pitch, if he can. He has always tried to set a standard for commitment and has been sent off only once in that time, at Llangennech in his first campaign, which he attributes to be over-worked on the family farm at lambing time and allowed himself to get into an argument with the referee which he couldn’t win! This, he says, will be his final year at the helm because he has no intention of trying to equal the record of five years on the trot as skipper.

School and youth days

It all seems a long time from his school days at Christ College, Brecon, where he represented the first team in their annual sorties against old rivals Llandovery, Millfield, Monmouth and Taunton.
From school Randall started to play for Llanelli Youth and went straight back to work on the farm just outside Fishguard - and his visits to New Zealand began by chance after dad Phil had bumped into a New Zealand couple waiting to go on the Irish Ferry and he spent some time showing them some Welsh hospitality. This chance meeting led to Randall going out to work on their farm and as a raw youngster it was a nerve-wracking trip to start since he hadn’t even met his new employer. After the long flight he was met by someone saying, “Hi. You must be Randall. You are even uglier looking than your father!”

Out to New Zealand to play

Thus the ice was broken and before long Randall was working hard and also playing rugby for Hauraki North, where he was soon in the first XV and Thames Valley (which is situated an hour south of Auckland), and played their youth counterparts from Auckland, Waikato and Northlands. He managed two appearances for Thames valley first XV before he returned to Wales, including a 20-minute spell against the Bay of Plenty.

Ambitions blocked - back to Fishguard and then New Zealand

When he got back to Whitland he found his ambitions blocked because the back row included Scott Eggar, Mike Buckingham and Phil Morgan, who, along with Johnny Kaloi rates as the best back row forwards he has played alongside. So he played the rest of the season for Fishguard with brother Rhys and enjoyed himself at the place he started out with his mini rugby. Then it was back to New Zealand for another spell but playing almost non-stop for over two years took its toll and he took a deserved rest. But he did meet Christy at the wedding of Whitland’s New Zealand player Anthony Jakeman and his wife Angie, so he says it was a worthwhile trip indeed!

Best moments

Ask Randall about his best moments with the Borderers and he would say that Welsh Cup matches against Neath and Pontypridd have been the highlights, whilst local derbies with Narberth are always eagerly anticipated by both clubs. He has scored a few try braces and really enjoys the cut and thrust of back row play and says that the club is deeply indebted to the likes of Dai John, Tony Bowen, Rob Benjamin and the rest in keeping the standard high at Parc Llwyn Ty Gwyn.

He hopes to have a few more seasons in him yet before the old bones and muscles wear out and included in that time will be the finishing off of his rugby career back at Fishguard, following in the footsteps of Alan Phillips and Huw Evans in giving something back to the Seagulls. That is in the future, though, and until then Randall Williams will do what he has always done and that is giving 100% to the Whitland RFC cause!