No, it wasn’t the Egyptian King, it was Rhys Williams from Flintshire!
Mohamed Salah has never played professional rugby, but there’s a Welshman with a very striking likeness to the Liverpool legend.
The man in question is rugby league star Rhys Williams, who hails from north Wales.
At 35 years old, he’s now in the twilight of his career, but he was once a star of the Betfred Super League, the highest level of rugby league in the United Kingdom.
Having represented Wales 33 times at international level, Williams has earned himself a fair amount of fame in the rugby league world, but one day his fame skyrocketed and transcended the boundaries between rugby and football.
Playing for Salford Red Devils, Williams scored a simply sensational try, evading numerous would-be tacklers with his weaving running and raw pace.
While the video copped a lot of attention based on the skill involved, it reached stratospheric levels of attention when people clocked that Williams looked almost exactly like Liverpool’s Salah.
The long, curly hair and dark beard, matched with a very similar running style, made for quite remarkable viewing.
Of course, these days Salah has a buzz cut, but the hair was a carbon copy back in 2020. The footage has now earned over 55 million views across all social media platforms. Sign up to Inside Welsh rugby on Substack to get exclusive news stories and insight from behind the scenes in Welsh rugby.
Watch the video below.
MO SALAH PLAYING RUGBY VIDEO
Williams revealed that he was first given the nickname of ‘Mo’ by an opposing player while playing for London Broncos. Current Wales international and Cardiff Rugby winger Regan Grace is actually a former team-mate of Williams and the pair played at the Rugby League Nines World Cup together in 2019.
It was announced in November last year that Williams had left Swinton Lions, who compete in the third tier of the English rugby league system – Betfred League One.
However, news broke in January that Williams had signed for Widnes Vikings in the Betfred Championship, which is a tier above.
Speaking about his latest move, Williams hopes to use his try-scoring experience to help his new team. “I’m really pleased to have signed with Widnes. This is a great club, with lots of history and I want to be a part of it,” he explained.
“I’m also really looking forward to playing with some of my teammates from previous clubs and country.
“I’m hoping to bring some experience and leadership to the squad, and just to add to the level of competition in the whole squad.”
