Matt Williams (born 1960) is a rugby union coach who is best known for having led the Scotland men's national rugby union team between 2003 and 2005 to 14 losses in 17 starts. Williams has also coached club sides in Australia, and other teams in Europe. Currently, he works as a radio and television pundit.
Playing career
Williams played from 1978 to 1992 with both Eastwood and Western Suburbs Rugby Clubs in Sydney and one season with Swansea RFC in Wales.
Coaching
Williams started in coaching Western Suburbs U20s in Sydney, Australia in 1992. A year later he became head coach of his former club Eastwood in Sydney in 1993, immediately taking them to the semi-finals in both 1993 and 1994. A major improvement from their lowly position when he arrived. Later that year he gained representative recognition when he was appointed fitness and skills coach for the Emerging Wallabies' tour of Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa.
In 1995 his coaching stints included New South Wales A, New South Wales Sevens, and as assistant coach for an Australian XV against England A. He was also a coaching assistant at the Wallaby World Cup camps.
He also coached the Balmain Tigers 7s team in the Coca-Cola World Sevens in Sydney, winning the Cup. Williams, a lifelong "Balmain Tigers man" said it was "one of the best experiences of his life."
In 1996 he became manager and assistant coach for the NSW Waratahs Super 12 campaign. For the next three years he was Head Coach for the NSW Waratahs.
Williams claims he was "instrumental" in mentoring and coaching such great players as Chris Whitaker, David Campese, Matt Burke, Tiaan Strauss, Phil Kearns and Jason Little.
Ireland
In the autumn of 1999, he acted as backs coach in Leinster Rugby's European Cup campaign, a prelude to becoming the province's head coach in 2000. Williams also undertook the role of defensive coach for the Irish national team in 2001. He was the first Australian Super 12 Coach to move to Europe.
Williams said that in the three years at Leinster he "was part of a great group of men" who rose through the European rankings from thirty-five to second. Leinster won the inaugural Celtic League Final and were semi-finalists of the European Cup.
Williams coached the former British and Irish Lions Captain Brian O'Driscoll, as well as Gordon D'Arcy, Shane Horgan, Malcolm O'Kelly and Denis Hickie.
Williams also was appointed Head Coach of Ireland "A" in 2002-03 and won the Six Nations title with the "A" team.
Scotland
After success with Ireland A, Williams was reportedly "head hunted" by the SRU and, in 2003, he was appointed as the head coach of Scotland. Williams was only the second Australian in over a century to be appointed as a head coach in the Six Nations Championship - and the Scottish national men's team's first foreign coach.
Scotland won three games out of 17 under William’s tenure - against the Tier 2 nations Japan and Samoa in 2004, and against Italy in the 2005 Six Nations. Williams controversially discarded Townsend - a celebrated figure in Scottish rugby, then aged only 30 - a week prior to the unveiling of his first national squad, despite an admission that his team lacked experienced centres.
Williams was sacked as Scotland head coach in April 2005 having the worst win percentage of any Scottish permanent head coach. Scotland's results immediately picked up with the arrival of new coach Frank Hadden, a former schoolteacher.
Later career
After his Scotland tenure, Williams returned to Australia and became head coach of West Harbour rugby club in Sydney from 2006 to 2007 before returning to Ireland to take over a very troubled Ulster team mid-season, after they had sacked former coach Mark McCall. Ulster were last in the Magners League and in danger of missing out on the ERC. Williams got Ulster off the bottom of the ladder and into the next European season. In his autobiography, Man and Ball, Stephen Ferris is extremely critical of Williams’ abilities as a coach.
Williams then resigned from the post of Head Coach at Ulster Rugby in May 2009.