Winston Williams - FNB Player of the Week

Player Profile

Winston Williams of Hoërskool Florida west of Johannesburg is a star in the making. He is slight of build, remarkably fast with an intuitive understanding of rugby.

The Florida coach, Skip Viljoen, thinks Winston is a brilliant player - a natural with great ball skills. He says: "He is the sort of player who can turn bad ball into good ball." Brilliant, but not perfect - lazy about practising and sometimes stingy on the field, playing himself when it would be better to let others play. He scored two tries against Monnas recently, but the side could perhaps have had a couple more with just a pass to set them free.

Winston is fast, doing a bit of athletics though rugby is his only real interest. Viljoen says he does about 11,2 for the 100 metres.

With skill and speed he can play anywhere in the backline from flyhalf to fullback. Last year, at Under-16, he was a flyhalf. This year he is a fullback. Viljoen believes that it is probably his best position as he thrives when he has space.

So where does Winston Williams come from?

He was born in the Strand on 31 January 1989 and that is where his home still is. He did his primary schooling at Strand Muslim School before going on to Hoërskool Strand who, incidentally, have a good rugby side this year.

Hoërskool Monument of Krugersdorp saw him and offered him a place in their school which he accepted but then he went back to Hoërskool Strand till, the Florida coaches, who had been at Monnas, approached him and he then went back up to Gauteng, this time to Hoërskool Florida, which has a good rugby side this year.

He lives with a family in Florida and his school work is picking up. He is in Grade 11 (Std 9) at present.

For two years he played for the Golden Lions team at the Grant Khomo Week for Under-16s. This year he is a probable for the Craven Week side. But Western Province and the Stormers remain the teams closest to his heart.