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1999 World Cup
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Surfer scrum half cracks Canadian side
LA GRANDE MOTTE, France (CP) -- With his dyed blond hair in a casual spike, goatee, gold hooped earrings and sculpted body, Morgan Williams looks more like a surfer than a rugby player.But the 23-year-old from Halifax will start for Canada against France today in just his third full Test (8 a.m. EDT, CTV Sportsnet). The youngest player on the team, Williams has displaced 52-cap veteran John Graf at the key position of scrum half.
Williams' trial by fire in the last six weeks has included away games against Wales and England and he has yet to get burned.
"He's got lots of confidence, you can tell that by his hair," said fly half Bobby Ross, only half-joking.
The six-foot, 185-pound Williams showed a distinct edge on the recent British tour. If an England player refused to give up the ball after a penalty, the feisty Canadian wasn't averse to sticking his paw in the opponent's face.
Still he admits his recent run in the Canadian starting 15 is amazing, especially when he only found out he was coming to the World Cup on Aug 20.
"If someone has asked me what I was going to be doing in October, any time before June, I would have told them I would probably be going to school in Victoria. It's something that I never expected. It's awesome.
"Right now I haven't really grasped the whole thing."
Williams is making the most of, though. He walked away from the Wales and England games with the jerseys of Welsh skipper Rob Howley and English scrum half Matt Dawson, who have 20 times more caps between them than the Canadian. Williams may frame Howley's.
A fitness fanatic, Williams is in the squad because he has the pace and stamina needed to run for 80 minutes. Canada's game is based on defence -- a missed tackle or an open lane can lead to disaster -- and Williams' mobility is a distinct asset. He is also an offensive threat coming off the base of the scrum.
His skills led to a few games with Cardiff while on a visit to Wales earlier this year and he hopes the World Cup will lead to a professional job overseas.
Born into a military family, Williams has travelled around the world and has been a rugby nomad in recent years. He played for the Canadian under-23 team based out of Victoria, flying home to Halifax in the summer to play for Nova Scotia in the Rugby Canada Super League.
"I just kind of travel with a suitcase."
In Victoria, he lived with his brother Jeff, a forward who plays for James Bay. He bunked with a friend in Ontario for a month in the summer then spent the rest of the time on the road or in camp with the Canadian team. Williams has no idea where he will hang his hat when he comes home after the World Cup.
A carded athlete who receives a monthly stipend from Sport Canada, Williams has survived financially thanks to the lines of benefactors such as Barry Wilken in Victoria, who has given him a job in his construction firm whenever needed.
Williams' parents are currently in Ukraine, where his father is the Canadian defence attache for Romania, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Moldova. His father's job has taken the family to Russia, England, Italy and all across Canada although Williams spent much of that time in boarding school at Albert College in Belleville, Ont.
He remains a proud Haligonian, although he admits to having played for the Newfoundland under-19 team because Nova Scotia didn't have an under-19 team at the time.
Williams remembers the experience clearly since the Newfoundland squad was coached by national coach Pat Parfrey, a St. John's kidney specialist with a salty vocabulary.
"The first practice that I had he yelled at me about 25 times ... And I stayed at his house, too," Williams recalled with fondness.
Now that he is on the national team, Williams has learned that no one escapes Parfrey's sandpaper tongue.
"I think he yells at the old guys more than us. We kind of like that."
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