The Welsh league title winner whose coaching career in England just got off to an exciting start after last-minute opportunity

In 2018, Tom Williams was left without a contract when the Scarlets released him a year after he’d helped them win the Guinness PRO12.

Cardiff picked him up but after limited opportunities, he jumped at the opportunity to move the Jersey Reds in the English championship. His first season at the club was decimated by a shoulder injury and then the Covid-19 pandemic. But his second term saw the outside back scoring tries freely and bagging hat-tricks.

The reason his form was so impressive, he feels, is because he knew that season was going to be his last as a player. His transition into coaching had already begun as he was taking charge of the Jersey Reds Women’s team at the time. But soon he’d be joining Men’s Director of Rugby Harvey Biljon’s coaching staff.

Williams told WalesOnline: “I’d heard a lot about Jersey. It’s a little island with amazing beaches. I thought it would be an amazing chance to travel and get to another club, a different league, different coaches and, I was right, it has been unbelievable.

“In my second year, I knew I was transitioning towards finishing my career so I just really enjoyed my last season as a player.

“I loved pre-season and I started playing the best rugby I’ve ever played. I scored quite a few tries and played some good rugby.

“I knew in the back of my mind that I was finishing something I’d wanted to do since I was born so I was giving it my all.”

As he began to ponder life after playing, opportunity came knocking. Reds assistant coach Ed Robinson got a job with Premiership side Wasps and Williams was called to step in.

He was helping out at his girlfriend’s cafe with offers of coaching roles elsewhere on the table when Biljon called him into his office the day before pre-season