Chester Mornay Williams was a South African rugby union player best known for playing as a winger for the South African national rugby team and for being the only non-White player on the team during the nation’s transition from Apartheid. He was born on August 8, 1970, to Wilfred and Julene Williams in Paarl, South Africa. His father played for the rugby team known as the Proteas. Williams developed an interest in rugby at an early age, influenced in part by his uncle Avril Williams, who was also a rugby player.
Williams attended Klein Nederburg Secondary School in Paarl, where he joined the school’s rugby team and captained the 1st XV, the top 15 players who make up a standard rugby side. During his senior year, he represented Western Province in South Africa’s famous Craven Week schoolboy tournament in Port Elizabeth. He graduated from Klein Nederburg Secondary School in 1991.
After high school, Williams joined the Navy and later transferred to the Army, where he began his rugby career playing for the Defence Club alongside his uncle, Avril Williams. He made his professional debut with Western Province, initially playing in the center position before transitioning to the wing. He would go on to play 63 matches for the team. Early in his career, he experienced racial discrimination due to apartheid; in one instance, he was forced to change clothes on the team bus because locker rooms were restricted to white athletes.
In 1993, Williams made his debut for the South African national team in a match against Argentina, during which he scored a try in a 52–23 victory. In 1995, South Africa hosted the Rugby World Cup, the first major sporting event held in the country following the end of apartheid. Williams played for the South African national team, known as the Springboks, and was the only non-White player on the squad. The team advanced to the finals and defeated New Zealand 15–12. After the match, President Nelson Mandela, wearing a Springbok jersey and cap, presented the Webb Ellis Cup to the team. The events leading up to and during the 1995 Rugby World Cup were later dramatized in the 2009 film Invictus, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. South African actor and former rugby player McNeli “Maccie” Hendricks portrayed Williams in the film. Williams also helped coach Damon and other actors for the rugby scenes.
Williams played for Western Province until 1999, after which he joined the Golden Lions. That same year, the team won the Currie Cup, defeating the Sharks 32–9. He retired from professional rugby in 2000 at the age of 30.
Following his retirement, Williams began a coaching career. Between 2001 and 2013, he coached a number of teams, including South Africa Sevens, the Cats, Uganda, Mpumalanga Pumas, Tunisia, and RCM Timișoara in Romania. Williams also had the honor of carrying the Olympic torch on behalf of South Africa for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Chester Williams passed away from a heart attack on September 6, 2019, in Cape Town, South Africa, at the age of 49. He had married Maria Williams in 2002, and the couple had two children together.
