page_title: Tom Williams (rugby union, born 1860)
section_title: Rugby administrator
hierarchical_section_title: Tom Williams (rugby union, born 1860) / Rugby administrator
caption_attribution_description: English: The Welsh national rugby union team that defeated the Original All Blacks in 1905.
context_page_description: Thomas Williams was a Welsh rugby union forward who played club rugby for Cardiff and Pontypridd and international rugby for Wales. A solicitor by profession, Williams would later become a national selector for the Welsh Rugby Union. Williams was also responsible for suggesting the singing of the Welsh national anthem in a match in 1905, the first time a national anthem was sung before a sporting event.
  Williams was born in Llwynypia into a farming community in the Rhondda Valley and in his early years he lived in at the Tonypandy Inn. A solicitor by trade, he trained for his profession in Pontypridd, probably under Spicketts. Williams was the uncle of Wales international and British Lion Willie Llewellyn.
context_section_description: After his playing career had ended, Williams became heavily involved in the Welsh Rugby Union, the governing body of rugby in Wales. Williams had a background suited to the running and administration of sporting organisations, being one of the founders of Llwynypia RFC in 1891. Then at a lower level he became Secretary of the "Rhondda, Ferndale and Aberdare league", later to become the Glamorgan League. He took up a position as an administrator for the Mid-District area within the WRU, a role he would occupy from 1899 to 1910, before being made a life vice president. Williams was made a national selector in 1901, a role he held until 1908, and was seen as the most influential Welsh selectors of the day. 
  When Wales hosted the first touring New Zealand team in 1905, Williams was at the centre of the selection of the Welsh team that would become the only team to beat the All Blacks during their tour. One of William's most notable ideas was not through his match selection, but his suggestion that the Welsh team respond to the New Zealand Haka by singing 'Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau', the Welsh national anthem. This idea was supported by the Welsh newspaper, the Western Mail, which suggested that the Welsh supporters could join in the chorus. On the day, after observing the Haka, Teddy Morgan led the Welsh team in singing the national anthem, which was quickly picked up by the crowd. It was the first time a national anthem had been sung before a sporting event. Later in his career, Williams became one of the Welsh representatives for the International Rugby Board, the sports international governing body.
caption: 1905 Wales squad that beat the All Blacks, Williams is stood far left in suit
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