JJ Williams, one of the greatest wings to play for Llanelli, Wales and the British & Irish Lions, has died at the age of 72.
Born in Nantyffyllon, Williams – who was christened John James but known throughout the world of rugby by his initials – played outside half for the Welsh Schools team before graduating into senior rugby with Bridgend.
He then moved to Llanelli and in his first season at Stradey Park helped his new club to beat the All Blacks 9-6 in 1972.
It will be the anniversary that that famous day on Saturday when Wales bring down the curtain on the 2020 Guinness Six Nations campaign at Parc Y Scarlets.
In what was then the Five Nations, JJ played throughout two Grand Slam and four successive Triple Crown campaigns.
He won 30 caps for Wales between 1973-79, scoring 12 tries, and played in seven Tests for the British & Irish Lions on tours to South Africa in 1974 and New Zealand in 1977.
He equalled the record of five Test tries in those matches, winning four and drawing another of them.
As part of what is widely recognised as the greatest Lions team of all-time in 1974 he scored two tries in two Tests against the Springboks. Overall on that tour he scored 12 tries in 12 matches, including a record equalling six against South West Districts in a 97-0 victory.
His overall record for the Lions was 22 tries in 26 games, which puts him equal third on the all-time list.
Tony O’Reilly leads the way with 38 in 38 games and Randolph Aston scored 30 in 20 games. He also played 10 times for the Barbarians.
At Llanelli, he played in four WRU Challenge Cup winning sides, won the Merit Table three times and the Floodlit Alliance twice. A sevens specialist, he also helped Llanelli win the Snelling Sevens title twice.
Speed was one of his greatest assets and that came from his background as a Welsh international athlete. At Maesteg Grammar School he developed into one of the best sprinters in the UK for his age and he won the British Schools 100 and 200 metre titles.
He first came to prominence when he won the Taff Street Dash as a 16-year-old schoolboy and graduated to become the Welsh 100 metre champion in 1971.
The year before, while a student at Cardiff College of Education, he went to the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh with the Welsh team.
He also represented Great Britain at the World Student Games in Turin in 1970 and was one of many outstanding sprinters in Wales at the time, regularly competing against, and beating, Olympians Ron Jones and Lynn Davies.
In 1970, he was ranked fifth in the UK with a time of 10.5 sec over 100 metres and equal first in Wales with Jones and Davies. He also recorded a wind-assisted time of 10.4 sec that year.
Over 200 metres, he was the Wales No 1 and ranked eighth in the UK with a best time of 21.4 sec. A year later he featured in the top 10 in the UK over 100 (3rd), 200 (4th) and 400 (10th) metres.
Rest in peace #jjwilliams played a big part of my rugby life, inspired by his style and speed! Sad day indeed for the rugby world pic.twitter.com/e7IQqhnx4C
— Jules (@cmonthespurs) October 29, 2020
He won the Welsh 200 metre title in 1968, 1969 and 1971, doubling up in the latter year by taking the 100 crown. He finished third behind Jones and Davis in the 100 yards in 1967 and second to Jones in 1968 and 1969.
A former PE teacher, he became a self-made millionaire through his industrial painting business and was awarded an MBE.
He also became a highly respected broadcast pundit on BBC radio and television, renowned for his forthright and fearless opinions.
He was added to the Welsh Sports Hall of Fame ‘Roll of Honour’ in 2009.
His love of athletics was passed on to his three children, Kathryn, James and Rhys. Kathryn became a Welsh international and British junior 400m hurdler, while James ran for Wales in the middle distance and captained Cardiff AAC.
Rhys became a European junior and senior 400 hurdles champion, won a Commonwealth Games silver medal and also represented Team GB at the Olympics and World Championships.
