‘Gully’ grabs the limelight at Moseley
Nathan Williams is just about to start a third season of ruby at Moseley RFC, who play in the English Championship, just one section below their Premiership section and containing a number of clubs, like Moseley, who are eager to claw their way into the big time.
Nathan originally hails from Milford Haven, where he started his rugby career at the local comprehensive school, represented Wales at under 16, under 18, under 19 and under 21levels, played for the Scarlets, Narberth and Carmarthen United before switching to Moseley and enjoying the last two seasons there. He plays at loose-head prop now but is equally at home on the other side of the scrum and at just 25 years of age is still a relative youngster in the position because it is a generally held view amongst pundits that props approach something like their best after they have passed 30 years of age and gained lots of experience in the hot-house atmosphere of rugby’s front rows!
We were delighted to recently catch up with Nathan, who is known to all as ‘Gully’, and chat to him about all he’s done in the game so far and his ambitions for the future. He is a modest and unassuming young man but one with a focus on his game and a willingness to work hard for the benefits, as he was proving in tough pre-season training at Moseley.
How are things going at Moseley in pre-season?
Very, very, very tough! We started out with four mornings of gym work and two evenings per week, one where we worked at conditioning with ‘Strong man’ circuits where we used ideas from the ‘World’s Strongest Man’, like tyre flipping and ‘Farmer’s Walk’ to build strength and stamina. The other evening was mainly devoted to running and at the start the sessions were agony after a summer of ‘chilling out a little’ but are gradually beginning to pay dividends. Then we moved on to practising moves early this month in readiness for some big games ahead since we start our league programme against Cornish Pirates, who like the rest of us want to break into the Premiership of English Rugby. In between we have friendlies at Newport and a home tussle with London Scottish, who will be coached by Ian McGeechan, which should be very interesting.
What made you start out at Moseley in the first place?
A friend from college rang me up, quite out of the blue, to ask me where I was playing because he had set out as an agent – and said he could organise me a trial at the club. I was looking for a fresh challenge so before I knew it I was going for a trial, which actually turned out to be a pre-season training session so I joined in and a short while later I had a phone call from their coach, Ian Smith (who had played open-side flanker for Scotland, Gloucester and Moseley). He had Dan Caskie, the ex-Scotland and Moseley outside half, as his assistant coach and I was invited back to the club, signed a contract and was a Moseley RFC player!
That was two seasons ago and although I started out at loose-head I switched to tight-head prop when other players got injured and haven’t looked back since – and was thrilled to be selected for the Birmingham Post’s ‘Midlands Select XV’ in both seasons I have been with Moseley. I have to help youngsters train in schools for six hours a week as part of my work and I sometimes think that is as hard as playing against some tough old prop who has been around for a long time!
What is the standard like at Moseley?
We play in what is called The Championship, which is the division below the Premiership but includes well-known clubs like Leeds, Exeter Chiefs, Plymouth, London Welsh and Cornish Pirates, all very eager to break into the big time. Last season we played really well in the EDF Energy Cup for our section as we scored a last-minute try to beat London Welsh in the last eight and caused something of a shock in the semi-final, which was a double header against Exeter because our league game had been called off in the snow so we played for a place in the final as well as vital league points. We had done our video work on them and exposed their weaknesses in a cracking win which saw us play in a double final at Twickenham where Gloucester met Cardiff in the main EDF competition and we played first against Leeds as rank outsiders.
There were 10,000 supporters in Twickenham and we really played well to win the trophy – and stayed in London for the rest of the weekend to celebrate!
Take us back to your start in the game – where was that?
I had enjoyed playing football as well as rugby but had to specialise and picked rugby at Milford Haven Comprehensive School where my head of year was some old geezer called Mr Carne.
I played No 8 throughout my five years there and after representing the county at under 11s I went right through to under 16s, where I gained my first Welsh ‘caps’ as I played against England (twice), Italy and Portugal alongside James Merriman and Lester Powell (Pembroke). It was around this time that I switched from the back to the front row and we beat England in Penzance and at Rodney Parade, Newport, Portugal at Stradi Park and Italy (away). I had my cap put in a frame with one of my jerseys, gave one to Jimmy Yeomans for all his support and the other two are still at home with my parents, Alan and Debbie. They have always given me total support alongside brother Dewi and sister Rosie, plus the rest of my family, and so has my girl-friend Claire Reynolds, who is a Dale girl.
Where did you continue your education and your rugby playing?
I was offered a scholarship at both Christ College Brecon and Llandovery, and picked Llandovery, because it was closer to home and they were doing well as a team. I played for the college first team under the captaincy of Rhodri Gomer-Davies and in my second year was honoured to be chosen as captain. At that time I was also selected for the Wales under 17 development squad and was capped at under 18 level in my second season, another great thrill and a second cap for my collection. I also played for Wales at under 19 and 21 levels and one memory for the wrong reason was playing in the 2002 IRB World Championships and after drawing with Argentina we lost on a penalty kick ‘shoot-out’!
From Llandovery it was onto the Scarlets on a rugby apprenticeship and had two years there, instead of three, because of my date of birth falling at the wrong time. In the first year we did a lot of community coaching as well as training and playing matches and before the second season they changed the name to Scarlets and I became a semi-professional, playing six matches for the Scarlets in 2003.. I had to make a decision because playing as a semi-pro wasn’t quite what I wanted so I came home to Milford and signed for Narberth, as well as working on the LNG plant during the day.
They made me welcome at the Lewis Lloyd Ground – the supporters are brilliant – and I enjoyed working with Jonathan Dodd and Sean Gale. I was delighted to be chosen as ‘Players’ Player of the Year’ there and one of the highlights was beating Whitland in the KO Cup. After that I moved to Carmarthen Quins so I could play a division higher under the guidance of Rob Appleyard, came back to Narberth for a second season and continued to gain good front row experience, which is what I wanted.
What about future ambitions?
I want to test myself at the highest possible level, especially at international level again, but I am taking it one step at a time, year on year, and making sure I gain experience whilst working at my skills and fitness levels. I would love to come back to Wales to play for a top-class region, or to play in the English Premiership or even in France. I’m ready to travel but for now I’m happy at Moseley at this start of a new season, which I hope will see the club do well with me as a regular player in the first team.
