Pioneers of Rugby in Wellington 143: Mick Williment

Wellington rugby from the mid-1960s was synonymous with three players that played different roles and two of them were forwards, lock/prop Ken Gray and openside flanker Graham Williams. A third in the backs was Mick Williment.

Williment was primarily a fullback, but also played games at centre, and was a points scoring machine goal-kicker throughout his career.

He played for the University club and won the Jubilee Cup in 1964 (shared) and 1966 (outright) and played 108 games for Wellington between 1958-68 as well as playing 9 Tests for the All Blacks between 1964-67.

Michael Williment was born on 25 February 1940 in Wellington. He attended Karori and Miramar Primary Schools and then Rongotai College and was in their First XV in 1956 and 1957 and was a leading player in these teams.

In 1957 Rongotai College entered the Third First Division competition, and for the first time in many years played the First XVs of St Pat’s Town (won 5-0), Wellington Technical College (13-9), Hutt Valley High School (8-8), Wellington College (3-9) and St Pat’s Silverstream (3-3). Overall, Rongotai won 11, lost 3 and drew 6 of their 20 games, scoring 189 points and conceding 94. Williment surpassed 100 points.

He also won the Huntington Cup for the school’s Outstanding Senior Athlete in 1957. Winning the school’s Senior High Jump Championship and the Senior Cricket Ball Throw in their athletics championships. He was also in the school’s First XI cricket team as a bowler, taking 34 wickets at an average of 10.15 in his final season at school.

Leaving school, Williment joined University, who would win their fourth Jubilee Cup title of the decade in his first year in 1958.

Williment played his first club season in University’s Third Grade team that won the Third Grade First Division Championship. He was vice-captain of this team that won 16 of 17 games and scored 388 points and conceded 84.

He impressed Wellington selector Clarrie Gibbons enough to make his Wellington A debut against Taranaki on 27 September  – and he kicked 11 points in the 23-20 win. He played once more against the Centurions in early October.

Williment started the 1959 season for University’s top side as an emergency (no tactical substitutes then) with Peter Osborne starting at fullback but soon took the reins from Osborne who had won four Jubilee Cups since 1952. University finished fourth equal with Petone.

Williment played a further six matches for Wellington A in 1959. The big match of the year for Wellington on 1 August was against the British and Irish Lions, with St Pat’s Old Boys’ Jimmy Taitoko at fullback that day. Three weeks later he played in his first Ranfurly Shield match, a 6-22 loss to Taranaki, while he played in a 20-11 win over Auckland the following week.

1960 was the year Williment established himself as University’s and Wellington’s number one fullback and goal-kicker and he scored 62 points. But it was not a good season for this team, relegated to the Hardham Cup.

He played in all 13 of Wellington A’s representative fixtures in 1960, scoring 75 points. He also put his body – more specifically his nose – on the line in the Ranfurly Shield challenge against Auckland when he thrice broke it during the game.

University returned to the top rung in 1961, finishing fifth and falling away late in the season. Williment scored 74 points.

He played 12 matches for Wellington in 1961, which included 29-3 and 15-13 home wins over Otago and Taranaki and an 8-13 loss to Auckland in his third Ranfurly Shield challenge match In the last game of the season he scored 10 points for Wellington in a 29-28 win over the Centurions. He would later be heavily involved in the Centurions club in an administration capacity.

He started 1962 by touring California with the New Zealand Universities team and finished it by scoring 62 points for Wellington and 129 overall in first-class rugby – the highest scorer of the season. University were third in the Jubilee Cup behind joint winners Onslow and Marist.

University was third again in 1963 in the Jubilee Cup, whist Williment went on to score 134 points in first-class rugby. Early in their campaign, he played for Wellington against England and then later against Southland he became the first player in New Zealand to kick three dropped goals in a first-class match. He brought up his 500^th first-class point.

On 18 May 1963 he kicked two penalties in Wellington’s 9-14 loss to England.

On 6 July 1963 Wellington lost a high-quality match to Canterbury 0-6, and an early description of his rivalry with Canterbury fullback Fergie McCormack was noted in the Rugby Weekly:

“…a remarkable display at fullback by M.Williment…as Wellington provided Williment to delight, so did Canterbury provide Fergie McCormack. The duel between these two was a memorable spectacle. In the conditions no other fullback in the country could have matched the unerring – often brilliant – clearances from this pair. “

It continued: “We recall Williment, twice, held in firm-looking tackles, still getting his kicks away; his sliding ‘take’ near the touchline; his overall grip on affairs even in the treacherous mud.”

Don Clarke was the incumbent All Black at this point, and the All Blacks chose to take just one specialist fullback on their end of year tour to Britain and France.

He made it fourth-time lucky in Ranfurly Shield matches when Wellington beat Auckland 8-3 on 31 August. A week later he was in the side that lost it to Taranaki 3-17.

In 1964 Williment and University shared the Jubilee Cup with Marist – going close to winning outright but for the WRFU taking Williment and four other players out of University’s line-up against WCOB to play for Wellington on the same day. In their absence WCOB tipped over University 6-3 which opened the door for Marist to share the Cup with them the following week when the full-strength University beat them 16-6 before a crowd of 13,000. Williment scored 116 out of University’s 327 points in 1964.

That game against Taranaki on 8 August was also a Ranfurly Shield, which Wellington lost 0-3. From later in August Williment and Wellington played six matches in a fortnight in a season in which Wellington won 13, lost two and drew two of 17 games.

1964 was a momentous year for Williment in higher teams. He was in the NZU team that played all three Tests against NZU then made the All Blacks for the first time.

Williment finally got his chance in the All Blacks when Clarke was ruled out with injury and he made his Test debut against the Wallabies in the first international in the 1964 series. Williment slotted eight points from two penalty goals and a conversion in the win. But Clarke returned for the final two tests.

With 146 points in 1964, Williment was the highest first-class points scorer in NZ first-class rugby for the third successive year.

University were runners-up to Athletic in 1965 to Athletic.

In 1965 Williment was at the peak of his game, the Rugby Weekly devoting this page here to him and University wing Alan Osborne on 15 May:

On 3 July 1965 he played in Wellington’s 23-6 win over the touring Springboks. He kicked 14 points in this match, including a left foot 40-metre dropped goal in the opening 10 minutes.

In 1965 Williment earned the fullback’s berth for the All Blacks series against the Springboks. He played the first three Tests, scoring 11 points. But playing for New Zealand Universities against the tourists Williment suffered a knock and was replaced for the fourth test by McCormick.

Lindsay Knight wrote in his All Blacks profile online that “It has been suggested in some publications that Williment was unavailable because of concussion for the fourth test. But on the same day as the test at Eden Park Williment played for Wellington against Taranaki.”

Knight’s profile continues:

“In any event Williment was back for all four tests against the Lions in which he scored 37 points, including a try in the first test in Dunedin.

Williment scored 116 first-class points in 1965.

In 1966 he was University’s vice-captain that finally won the Jubilee Cup outright after a few seasons of knocking on the door. But it didn’t come easy, injuries and the drain on personnel testing depth. Williment and University dug deep on the final afternoon of the season to shut out Athletic 14-0. University scored 269 points and conceding 101.

Wellington met the British and Irish Lions on 25 June 1966 and Williment kicked 11 points in the 20-11 win.

He also played in the test series, himself and prop Ken Gray playing in all four Tests in the series that the All Blacks won 4-0.  Williment scored his only Test try just after halftime in the opening international in Dunedin won 20-11.

For the fifth year in succession Williment topped the century of first-class points and for the fourth time in five seasons he topped the national list. His 213 points in 1966 broke Ron Jarden’s 11-year record of 200. His overall first-class points tally at the close of the season reached 990, second only to Don Clarke.

He spent a season in England in 1966 playing for the Blackheath club and represented the UK Barbarians in 1966.

In 1967 Williment missed a number of club games through a combination of being sidelined with a groin injury and with representative and NZU commitments. He scored 57 points for his club as they finished fourth equal.

Williment was the only Wellingtonian to play in the Jubilee Test against Australia, the All Blacks winning 29-9 and Williment scoring 14 points to bring his Test aggregate to 70.

This would be Williment’s ninth and last international, Knight writing:

“But for much of the 1967 season he struggled with a groin injury and a sluggish final trial saw him sensationally axed in favour of McCormick for the tour of Britain and France. One well documented story is that Williment was actually in the squad but had his name deleted when officials pointed out to the selectors they had 31 players in their touring party. So Williment was denied the chance of even one All Black tour though he had an extensive period in New Zealand Universities sides and was on tours with them to California and British Columbia in 1962 and to Japan and Hong Kong in 1967.”

He closed the 1967 season with a brilliant game against Auckland in a 14-6 win, followed by a 19-17 home win over Canterbury and then the 12-12 draw with Hawke’s Bay in Napier in a Ranfurly Shield challenge.

This would also be his last game for Wellington. Retiring at the end of 1967, Williment along with New MacEwan established Williment Travel, a company specialising in sports tours.

He returned to club rugby for University in 1968 and scored 59 points as his club were runners-up to Petone in the Jubilee Cup.

He started 1969 and played the pre-season and a few early games, before announcing his retirement to focus on his business, which himself and wife Rosemary ran for many years.

His overall first-class record was 171 games played, scoring 17 tries and kicking 296 conversions, 188 penalties and 16 dropped goals for 1255 points.

The Mick Williment Memorial Trophy was introduced in 1996 for the New Zealand Universities Player of the Year.

Wellington rugby also runs Williment Week each year for leading teenaged players, from which Wellington’s U16s teams are named.

Williment’s nephew Marc Ellis became an All Black and scored a record six tries against Japan at the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

Williment passed away on 5 May 1994 after a battle with cancer.

References

• Akers, Clive. New Zealand Rugby Register 1870-2015. New Zealand Rugby Museum, 2016.
• Anderson, John. Victoria University of Wellington Rugby Football Club. The story of the Green and Golds 1902-1987. Tolan Printing Company, Wellington, 1988
• Club Rugby – Wellington against South Africa 1965 http://www.clubrugby.co.nz/wellington/story.php?id=1402
• Knight, Lindsay. Mick Williment All Blacks Player Profile. Online at: https://stats.allblacks.com/all-players/profile/Mick-Williment-AB-649
• Rongotai College School Magazine ‘Te Rama’ 1957
• Rugby Weekly – various 1950s-1960s.
• Veysey, Alex and Fox, Bob. Wellington’s Rugby History 1951-1979, Part 2. Tolan Printing Co, 1979.
• Headline photo credit: Williment. Crown Studios Ltd :Negatives and prints. Ref: 1/2-206372-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/22456458