John Williams

Johannes Gerhardus "John" Williams (29 October 1946 – 5 December 2024) was a South African rugby union player and coach.

Playing career Williams played his senior provincial rugby in South Africa for . He made his test debut for the Springboks in 1971 against the touring French team on 12 June 1971 at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein. He also played test matches against Australia in 1971, England in 1972, the British Lions in 1974 and the 1976 All Blacks. He played in a further eleven tour matches, scoring one try for the Springboks.

Test history No. Opponents Results(RSA 1st) Position Tries Dates Venue 1. 22–9 Lock 12 June 1971 Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein 2. 8–8 Lock 19 June 1971 Kings Park, Durban 3. 19–11 Lock 17 July 1971 Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney 4. 14–6 Lock 31 July 1971 Brisbane Exhibition Ground, Brisbane 5. 18–6 Lock 7 August 1971 Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney 6. 9–18 Lock 3 June 1972 Ellis Park, Johannesburg 7. 3–12 Lock 8 June 1974 Newlands, Cape Town 8. British Lions 9–28 Lock 22 June 1974 Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria 9. British Lions 13–13 Lock 27 July 1974 Ellis Park, Johannesburg 10. 13–4 Lock 23 November 1974 Le stade de Toulouse, Toulouse 11. 10–8 Lock 30 November 1974 Parc des Princes, Paris 12. 16–7 Lock 24 July 1976 Kings Park, Durban 13. 9–15 Lock 14 August 1976 Free State Stadium, Bloemfontein

Coaching career Williams was the Northern Transvaal coach from 1987 to 1991 and coached his team to the Currie Cup final in each year. Northern Transvaal won three of the finals, in 1987, 1988 and 1991 and in 1989 they shared the title with . In 1992 Williams was appointed Springbok coach.

Williams was relieved of his duties after leading the team to one win in five games. He returned to coach the Bulls in the mid-1990s.