Bristol Aim To Shock 'Posh' Title Rivals Bath

Unsung inside centre James Williams typifies Bears' graft in emotional build-up to their Premiership semi-final clash

- Gerard Meagher

When the Rugby Football Union launched its rebrand of the Championship last month, Henry Pollock was put front and centre, made the poster boy by virtue of his five loan appearances for Bedford Blues. You can hardly blame the union for trying to capitalise on the hype but there are better examples of players who epitomise the strengths of the second tier.

None more so than James Williams, Bristol's inside-centre who at 28 has taken the road less travelled to the Premiership semi-finals. Williams began his career at Birmingham Moseley in National League One before moving to Hartpury. He joined Worcester in 2018 but managed only one appearance, signed with Sale a year later and appeared just three times before Covid hit and was released by the Sharks.

Soon Williams found himself arranging a return to Hartpury, all the while juggling a job renovating flats in Bristol. For 18 months Williams would set off for Gloucester at 5am, be on the training field at 7am until 8.30am before dashing back to begin work an hour later. In the 2021-22 campaign, he finished as the Championship's top points scorer and Pat Lam soon came calling.