Father Time is finally catching Sonny Bill Williams
Father Time remains undefeated.
The All Blacks’ mercurial midfielder Sonny Bill Williams is yet to completely submit, but few can deny that the 32-year-old’s time on the pitch is running out.
With 14 years of professional sport under his belt, Williams remains a physical marvel unlike any we have seen before.
14 years is a long time to produce at the top level of anything, let alone professional sports.
It’s also a long time to endure the thousands of tackles, batters and bruises a career in rugby entails. But Sonny Bill Williams is tough.
The next time Williams pulls on a jersey – most likely late next month – he will be 33 years old, and the oldest face in Steve Hansen’s All Blacks squad.
With a potential third Rugby World Cup in sight, Williams’ body has begun to stall and sputter right before the finish line.
When you look at Williams’ lengthy injury history, it’s a minor miracle that he still has both legs left to stand on.
His first major surgery as a professional athlete came in 2005, during his second NRL season with the Canterbury Bulldogs.
Aged 19 – and just eight months removed from winning the NRL Grand Final as the youngest player to feature in the big dance – the kid from Mount Albert who was still growing into his 193-centimetre frame needed arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn meniscus. The injury was suffered during his comeback appearance after missing the previous nine games with an ankle injury.
After winning the Grand Final in 2004, Williams managed to appear in just 41 of his side’s next 78 games.
Club doctor Hugh Hazard told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2006 that Williams’ injury concerns would lessen as his physical development progressed.
“As he gets older he’ll put on more lean body mass and get stronger and hopefully that will assist him,” Hazard said.
Hazard was right as Williams bounced back, managed to stay relatively healthy for the next two seasons and shake the harsh ‘injury prone’ label bestowed upon him, before breaking his arm in the 2007 NRL semi-final while tackling Parramatta Eel Nathan Hindmarsh.
Three extremely successful code switches after 2008 – from union (2008-2012) to league (2012-2014) and then back to union (2014-present) – and a few professional boxing bouts followed. It seemed like Williams’ constantly nagging injury woes were finally put to bed.
Until they reared their ugly heads again. And again. And again.
Like it had done over ten years earlier, Williams’ body abandoned him.
Arguably the worst injury of his career came in 2016 at the Summer Olympic Games, when the then 30-year-old ruptured his Achilles in the first match of his Olympic rugby sevens campaign.
History tells us that Achilles ruptures at age 30 or later are, more often than not, career-ending. If they don’t force you off the field, court or pitch for good, they usually correlate with a significant drop in production.
But Williams shaped as a special case. After his rupture, the once-in-a-generation athlete beat the odds and continued to produce just as many dazzling, jaw-dropping moments as ever when he made his return and appeared for the All Blacks 11 times in 2017.
Then injuries cut him down once again.
When on the park this season, Williams still ranks near the top in several key statistical categories. His 2.4 offloads per game are good for third in Super Rugby, he ranks second among midfielders in both try and line break assists per game and he is among the top 15 ball carriers in the competition.
The problem is that Williams has only managed to play five Super Rugby games with the Blues this season. After being hailed as the marquee signing for a struggling franchise in 2016, he has racked up just 11 appearances for the club in the last two years.
A fractured wrist in week five of the season led to six missed games. After his comeback against the Hurricanes in week 13, Williams managed just one more Super Rugby appearance. A knee injury – more specifically a loose piece of bone in his knee joint – suffered at an All Blacks training camp seemingly ended hopes of playing for the national side in June as well.
Williams – showcasing the toughness he has become renowned for over his career – made a shock return in the All Blacks’ third Test against France, only to last 58 minutes before injuring his shoulder; an injury that officially ended his Super Rugby campaign and could keep him out of August’s Rugby Championship opener.
All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen says he isn’t concerned with Williams’ durability, despite his advanced age.
“I think he’s durable enough. He’s just not having any luck at the moment” Hansen said.
“They’re not muscle injuries, they’re impact injuries so that’ll turn. He’s fine, we’re very happy with where he’s at.”
Hansen also made note of Williams’ value to the All Blacks off the field.
“They all look up to him as a professional,” Hansen said.
“He’s very, very professional with how he conducts himself with his training and his rehab and he’s prepared, so that’s a big plus.”
Despite Williams’ best rehab and conditioning efforts, constant injuries can break a man in more ways than one, and the aging star will have to ponder the likelihood of another significant injury. One that could spell an unfortunate end to an illustrious career.
It seems that 14 years of top-level performance and physical punishment is taking its final toll on his broken body.
In a week where Williams announced the birth of his third child, Father Time calls louder than ever.
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
I still see nothing in Sotutus play that hes changed his upright running style that failed so many times against decent international defences like the french. Other than that… Iose? Well you have covered his limitations well. If Sititi had been playing the the season… Jacobson? Grace?…Neither shout pick me. So Ardie it is.
1 Go to commentsThere isn’t one element you mentioned there that every top class or successful team gets up to. The great All blacks sides used to play on the ‘fringes or edge’ but it was essentially saying they were doing something illegal or borderline to gain dominance. The fine margins at the top are minute between the top sides. La Rochelle, the crusaders, Saracens, Toulon etc etc…..have all been accused. Get over it, the comment comes across as salty and naive. Northampton as well as they played to get back into the match were thoroughly beaten and controlled for 60 minutes and Leinster have only themselves to blame for kicking it away and hence losing control of the match and being nearly the architects of their own downfall.
2 Go to commentsThere is some talent coming thru thats for sure. The 10 looks special to me. Rico Simpson is a name to look for in the future.
1 Go to commentsI think this quiet honestly is just an innocent misunderstanding by someone who is pig sh*t stupid. Eben is a fine player but by christ, if he can’t understand or get what the Irish players were trying to say to him after the match…..well i hope he has someone looking after his finances, career and is reading the fine print for him, cause life after rugby may be quite difficult for the vacuous echo chamber.
27 Go to commentsIt could be Doris' day!
3 Go to commentsThe whole thing has blown up because Eben’s words have clearly struck a nerve in Ireland. Otherwise they would just laugh it off. I think some former Irish players, commentators and some Irish fans know deep down this Ireland team started to believe its own press and that a certain amount of arrogance had started to creep in during the World Cup. The topic was actually brought up by Irish pundits on Off the Ball recently. It’s fine to be arrogant if you can back it up. Ireland didn’t.
27 Go to comments‘The Irish are good people'. Why is Goode praising a people who hate his own? Wet wipe.
27 Go to commentsLa mejor final que se puede ver en el emisferio norte.
1 Go to commentsA lot of cope from south africans in the comments. Etzebeth is a liar and a hypocrite; you don’t have to defend him!
27 Go to commentsHe got big and really slow for a flyhalf…not sure he’s relevant in a bok conversation anymore
4 Go to commentsBest tourney team vs best team in the regular season for 3 games in RSA - talk is cheap, let’s see what’s what on the tour
27 Go to commentsOne overlooked statistic from their 2016 winning season is the Huricanes are still the only team in Super rugby history not to concede a try during the playoff rounds.
4 Go to commentsThanks for the article, Nick. The Nienaber blitz D does ask a lot of its scrumhalf. I have been watching JGP on D and he often looks like he has mastered what Nienaber asks for better than Faf de Klerk and Cobus Reinach! 🤣 Impressive season by JGP if I must make an understatement.
22 Go to commentsOkay last one. I promise. I think it’s despicable for Andy Goode to suggest that Eben can’t count to 12. To be fair he only had to count to 8 - the number of Irishmen who DIDN’T say that. Less the 3 kiwis of course. 23 - 12 - 3 = 8. See Joe. I can do maffs.
27 Go to commentsCheers, Nick! How do you see the Reds’ Jock Campbell’s play this year? Not as strong a carrier as Andrew Kellaway or Tom Wright, but does avoid errors. Do you see Joe Schmidt as wanting safety first at 15 or a try-assisting counterattacker?
91 Go to commentsI’m sure this was all just a big misunderstanding. Irishmen and Afrikaaners conversing in a noisey stadium. Not easy to get the right messages across. A minefield.
27 Go to commentsSay what you will about Andy Goode. But he is right about one thing… I’m not sure what that one thing is exactly… but I’m willing to hear him out.
27 Go to commentsAnother article to bait and trigger Irish fans. This must stop.
27 Go to commentsHi Nick. Thanks for your +++ ongoing analysis. Re Vunivalu, He’s been benched recently and it will be interesting to see what Kiss does with him as we enter the backend of SRP. I’m still not sold.
91 Go to commentsIn the fine tradition of Irish rugby, Leinster cheat well and for some reason only known to whoever referees them, they are allowed to get away with it every single game. If teams have not got the physicality up front to stop them getting the ball, they will win every single game. They take out players beyond the ruck and often hold them on the ground. Those that are beyond the ruck and therefore offside, hover there to cause distraction but also to join the next ruck from the side thereby stopping the jackal. The lineout prior to the second try on Saturday. 3 Leinster players left the lineout before the ball was thrown and were driving the maul as soon as the player hit the ground and thereby getting that valuable momentum. They scrummage illegally, with the looshead turning in to stop the opposing tighthead from pushing straight and making it uncomfortable for the hooker. The tighthead takes a step and tries to get his opposite loosehead to drop the bind. Flankers often ‘move up’ and actually bind on the prop and not remain bound to the second row. It does cause chaos and is done quickly and efficiently so that referees are blinded by the illegal tactics. I am surprised opposition coaches when they meet referees before games don’t mention it. I am also surprised that they do not go to the referees group and ask them to look at the tactics used and referee them properly. If they are the better team and win, fair play but a lot of their momentum is gained illegally and therefore it is not a level playing field.
2 Go to comments