Late Bok great Chester Williams, who was nicknamed the ‘Black Pearl’, blazed a trail in South African rugby. Here is a reminder of his immense achievements.
Williams was born in Paarl on 8 August 1970. He played for Western Province and the Golden Lions during his provincial career, which stretched from 1991 to 2000. He also had two seasons of Vodacom Super Rugby with the Cats.
Williams made his Springbok debut against Argentina in 1993 and played 27 Tests for South Africa until his last Test, against Wales in 2000, scoring 14 Test tries in the process. In total, he played 47 matches in the green and gold and scored 27 tries.
In 1995, he was a member of the initial Springbok squad for the Rugby World Cup, but had to withdraw due to injury shortly before the tournament started. He was later recalled and scored four tries in the quarter-final against Samoa.
Video tribute: The legend of Chester
Williams was named SA Rugby Player of the Year in 1994. Apart from lifting the Webb Ellis Cup in 1995, Williams was also a member of the Springbok squad that won the Rugby Championship (then Tri-Nations) in 1998, and he won the Currie Cup with the Golden Lions in 1999.
Blessed with speed to burn and great anticipation, sevens rugby was also a natural fit for Williams, who played in 22 tournaments for the Springbok Sevens team, including the Rugby World Cup Sevens tournaments in 1993 and 2001. He also captained the Blitzboks at the Commonwealth Games in 1998.
After his playing days, Williams turned to coaching, where he was involved at various levels of the game, including the Blitzboks, Cats (Super Rugby), the national teams of Uganda and Tunisia, the Pumas (Currie Cup), and more recently the University of the Western Cape in the Varsity Cup.
Williams is the fifth member of the Springbok squad from 1995 to pass away, after Kitch Christie (coach), Ruben Kruger (flank), Joost van der Westhuizen (scrumhalf), and James Small (wing), who passed two months ago.
Williams is survived by his wife, Maria, and three children, Ryan and twins Matthew and Chloe. Funeral arrangements have not yet been made and will be communicated in due course.
Photo: Gallo Images
