Tim Nanai-Williams secures a second Pro D2 medical joker lifeline

Veteran Samoa international Tim Nanai-Williams is back in the game after an injury comeback delay allowed him to return to Beziers just months after the club released him at the end of the 2023/24 season. Overlooked by his country for 2023 Rugby World Cup squad selection, the 35-year-old originally joined the Pro D2 outfit last September as a medical joker after exiting Toulouse, where he had spent two seasons.

Prior to that he had been with Clermont, another Top 14 club, for three seasons after featuring for the Super Rugby Chiefs and Black Rams Tokyo. Despite starting in 10 of his 17 appearances last term and scoring two tries, Beziers opted not to keep Williams on for the 2024/25 second-tier campaign in France.

However, a delay in the comeback of Romain Uruty, the player Nanai-Williams covered for last season after he injured his ACL, has paved the way for his medical joker return. He had been unable to pick up a contract elsewhere and was available to immediately join up with his old club ahead of this Friday’s latest Pro D2 fixture away at Aurillac.

A club statement read: “To compensate for the absence of Romain Uruty for a few more weeks, the club has called upon the experienced and versatile Samoan international Tim Nanai-Williams, who returns to our ranks as a medical joker.

"At 35, Tim has played for some of the great Top 14 teams, having played for Clermont and Toulouse. Having won the Challenge Cup (2019, with ASM) and the French championship title (2023, with Toulouse), he is a real Swiss army knife capable of playing in the full-back back, winger, centre or even fly-half positions who will strengthen our three-quarter line.”