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Ray Williams – Doyen of rugby coaches
For four decades Ray Williams has rightly been regarded as the doyen of rugby coaches after he had become the first professional coaching organiser when he took up his role as coaching organiser for the Welsh Rugby Union as far ago as 1967.
His remit was to organise a coaching structure and he certainly did this in his 12 year stint at the helm – and then went on to become Deputy Secretary and Centenary Officer for the WRU, followed by a seven year spell as Secretary to the WRU. Ray was Tournament Director of the 1991 World Cup, represented Wales on the International Rugby Board, was Chairman of the IRB Tours and Tournaments Committee and was Chairman of the Lions’ Committee, served on the WRU Committee for four years, two as vice-chairman, to name just a few of his influential roles in the oval ball game.
Ray travelled all over the world with his coaching, has written books on the game and appeared in TV programmes on coaching and he was rightly honoured with an OBE in 1995 for his services to the game because few others in any country could lay claim to as great a contribution to their national sport as he has. Indeed, his work was recognised by his becoming a Fellow of the National Association of Sports Coaches in 1989 and, perhaps even more of an honour, election to the UK Coaching Hall of Fame in 2002.
Now a sprightly pensioner, Ray has moved to Haverfordwest over the past eighteen months so that he could be closer to daughters Judith and Helen, plus his grandchildren, so pembrokeshiresport.co.uk took the chance to call in on Ray and his charming wife Megan, (who makes a great cup of coffee!) to ask him a series of questions about his involvement in rugby.
You are renowned as a coach and administrator but could you start off with a few words about your own playing days?
I was brought up in Wrexham and it was only when I went to Loughborough College that I began to make a name as an outside half with the college team before also playing for London Welsh, Northampton and Moseley, representing East Midlands, North Midlands, and North Wales along the line. I also had a final Welsh trial but the great Cliff Morgan was the incumbent at No 10 and so I missed out there.
But it was wonderful to play at Northampton alongside nine internationals like Dickie Jeeps, Jeff Butterfield, Ron Jacobs, John Hyde and Don White and the highlight was beating Cardiff 22-9, a superb side that included not only Cliff Morgan, but Bleddyn Williams and Rex Williams – and had Mr Morgan saying it was the best club game he ever appeared in. I finally finished in my late 30s at Moseley and I have very fond memories of my playing days.
Can you tell us about your start in coaching?
Coaching rugby was part of my teaching duties at Kings School Peterborough and in 1952 our team was unbeaten all season (and is holding a reunion soon of all the players and staff) from that great era. I was Senior Technical Officer with the Central Council for Physical Recreation from 1956 to 1967 and then the Welsh Rugby Union made the ground-breaking decision to appoint their first full-time professional coaching advisor and I got the job. It was the first such appointment in any of the rugby-playing countries and it was a marvellous time since everything I did was totally new. My remit was to organise the coaching set-up and I take great pride that Wales were the first to be so innovative and has been a fore-runner with its coaching set-up ever since.
Were you involved in coaching the Welsh team?
Officially no but I worked very closely with both Clive Rowlands and John Dawes who were National Team coaches during the 70s, one of the most successful periods in the history of the game in Wales. However I did assist in the planning and coaching of the Welsh National Squad, another innovation introduced by Wales. The picture I showed you of me with the famous Pontypool front row of Graham Price, Bobby Windsor and Charlie Faulkner was taken during the build up to the 1976 match against England at Twickenham where we won 21-3 – a great day!
Your next role was to organise the Centenary of Welsh Rugby – was that a busy time?
Very much so because in addition I was appointed Deputy Secretary of the WRU and I sometimes had four or five meetings each day as we moved towards the centenary celebrations. My favourite part of the whole programme was the ‘Queen’s Message Relay’ where we had a special ball made of plastic by British Steel which opened out and which I took to Buckingham Palace - and inside was a message of congratulations from Her Majesty which was placed there by Prince Charles.
It was then carried by rugby players to places like London Welsh, Birmingham Welsh and through clubs North Wales to every ground in Wales in readiness for the Gala Opening of the Centenary back in Cardiff, where the message was read out by Cliff Jones, the President of the WRU.
57,000 children had been involved up to that point, there was a massed choir of 1,800 and several bands like the Welsh Guards and the Royal Welsh Fusiliers –and there were three matches organised during the centenary which the first ever sponsored games as Barclays Bank, Crown Paints and Redifusion supported us. We played New Zealand and an Overseas XV, plus a game where a combined Wales/England team took on Scotland/Ireland. We were thrilled that the Queen attended the combined match and I was lucky to have played rugby against Sir Phillip Moore, her private secretary, which might have helped in her visit!
Your next job was to be Secretary of the WRU 1981 to 1988 – was it a challenging time?
I like to think that every role has its challenges and this was no exception, although I really enjoyed it because it involved working with every club in Wales. I have jokingly said that it was like banging your head against a brick wall – good when it stopped – but I enjoyed it nonetheless. One of the innovations I helped bring about that time was regular meetings with the secretaries of the other home unions, which really helped with communication between countries. I worked with Bill Hogg (Scotland), Bob Fitzgerald (Ireland) and Bob Weighill (England) and it was a big step forward for secretaries to meet, with France eager to join us a little later.
Incidentally, I also went back for a four year stint on the WRU Committee from 1993 to 1997, the last two as vice-chairman, represented the WRU on the International Rugby Board, the Five Nations Committee and the Committee of Home Unions for all of that period so I have always kept busy.
Then it was on to organising the 1991 World Cup – can you tell us about that?
I regarded it as a huge opportunity for the game to be developed, especially at grass roots.
And we started off with a game at Rugby School, where the game was founded, featuring the rules of that time. We catered for 2.000 people and there was almost three times that number so we were delighted.
Again I used the idea of a rugby ball carried all over the UK and France, with special events held in every area where the ball was carried – and we had a real coup when it was the first piece of merchandise allowed to be taken through the Channel Tunnel, although it wasn’t completed at the time. I was in a meeting with the planners and developers, who weren’t as keen as I had hoped but I asked one of the developers if they had any rugby players involved in the construction work and he had – so it was finally agreed that they could have the honour of carrying the ball in relays to France – and it was brilliant!
The opening ceremony was held prior to the first match at Twickenham, with representatives from all 16 countries followed by a group of children dressed in the national jerseys. Gerald Davies was honoured with being the Welsh rep whilst Colin Meads was there for New Zealand, carrying in the trophy as his country were the holders.
There were some good games in the build-up to the final, where Australia beat England, and it was nice for me that I was the only non-Aussie invited into their dressing room afterwards by Bob Templeton, their assistant coach, with whom I had worked previously in the Southern Hemisphere. It was a memorable moment in a time of great memories for me.
What involvement did you have with the media?
Obviously I have worked with the press over a number of years and generally got on well with them but I also wrote books called ‘Rugby for Beginners’ and ‘Skilful Rugby’, both with Souvenir Press, as well as an RFU ‘Guide for Coaches’ and WRU wall charts. I had been involved in making RFU Filmlets and in 1971 was invited by HTV to make a series on coaching. It was filmed, using students from Cardiff College of Education, with just one camera and we made all six programmes over two Sundays. It was put out on Friday evenings at 10.35 but became popular and so was re-shown on Saturday mornings, which was nice.
Three years later the BBC made a series called ‘Play Rugby’ and again it was nice to be asked to take part and I suggested my English counterpart in coaching, Don Rutherford, should be the other presenter. We used a St Luke’s College team that included the likes of Jeff Squire, Mike Sleman and John Scott in the first week and again back at Cardiff College for a second week of filming, both with a full outside broadcast unit in which Kate Adie was a young production assistant!
I was also co-producer of the BBC Wales film of the WRU Centenary in 1980 and before that a series called ‘This is Mini-Rugby’.
Did your coaching take you to many counties?
Yes it did. I coached in Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Canada, Fiji, Italy, New Zealand, Spain, Sri Lanka and the USA, as well as advising developing nations like Hungary, Latvia and Lithuania. I was made very welcome wherever I went. I was also Chairman of the Lions’ Committee, a position currently occupied by former Scotland full back Andy Irvine, and was involved during the 1997 Lions Tour of South Africa where we beat South Africa by two tests to one with Fran Cotton as manager of a team coached by Ian McGeechan and Jim Telfer. Although I wasn’t part of the official tour party I went to watch all the tests and was thrilled that we beat the South Africans.
Any final thoughts on your involvement?
I was very lucky to be so involved in rugby at a time of great development and they were exciting times. I met many of the top players and administrators, went to some wonderful places and even met some of the royal family. Now Megan and I have moved to Haverfordwest to be near Judith and her husband, Derek Griffiths, plus Helen and her husband Peter Morgan, who also had some involvement in the game, and I can say I wouldn’t have missed any of it for the world!
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