Sonny Bill Williams tests the English defence. Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images
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Sonny Bill Williams’ debut for the All Blacks on November 6th, 2010 made headlines for a number of reasons. The 25-year-old was yet to play a single game of Super Rugby, having played just one season of rugby union for Canterbury at NPC level, making the Rugby League convert just the fourth player to play for the All Blacks with no Super Rugby experience.
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To fans’ surprise, not only was Williams named in the 23 to start the All Blacks’ opening match of the Northern Tour, he was handed the 13 jersey to partner Ma’a Nonu, making for the heaviest All Blacks midfield partnership ever.
The 26-16 victory also provided maiden Test starts for Sam Whitelock and Alby Matthewson, while Nonu and Williams were joined in the backline by a lethal lineup of Dan Carter, Hosea Gear, Joe Rokocoko and Mils Muliaina.
Williams’ performance displayed hints of the physicality the former NRL star had become known for, delivering a number of offloads through the tackle of multiple defenders, enough to impress some fans while others remained sceptical of the newcomer’s all-around game.
Sonny Bill Williams is our small ball-playing centre. I fear for the safety of future opponents
Williams’ first touch of the match came within the opening minute, receiving a poor pass from Mils Muliaina as the fullback was rushed by the English defence, Sonny Bill was able to collect the ball and make a few meters with a leg drive aided by Ma’a Nonu and Brad Thorn.
The centre’s next touch came with the All Blacks backline in motion, Williams found himself running the sideline and cutting infield to receive the drop-off pass from Joe Rokocoko, engaging two defenders before finding Nonu inside him and the ball was kept alive with more meters gained.
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Impressively, Williams backed his instincts around the breakdown, a difficult element of the game to navigate coming from Rugby League. The Aucklander’s physicality and willingness to swoop on loose balls saw him clean up some untidy rucks and retain possession for his team.
Williams’ big highlight came in the 16th minute, as he received the ball at halfway, spotted a gap and burst into it, again engaging multiple defenders and getting the offload away to a rampaging Jerome Kaino who in turn delivered a wide ball to Hosea Gear who’s pace ensured the try was scored in the corner.
Criticism of the debutant mainly mentioned his skillset as a distributor, noting an unwillingness to pass unless it was an offload while his history of dangerous tackles remained a concern.
Former All Blacks boss Steve Hansen has shared his thoughts on the decision by England to dismiss Eddie Jones as boss nine months out from the start of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.
The match alone wasn’t enough to convince All Blacks coach Sir Graham Henry of Williams’ readiness for the Test arena.
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“They created a bit, didn’t they? The first try was from a Sonny Bill break but I think the jury’s still out,” he said. “I don’t think he’ll be entirely happy with his game but he’ll be better for the experience.
“What else would you expect? His first game, in front of 82,000 at Twickenham, is a pretty big ask. I’m pretty happy with what he displayed.”
Williams’ assessment of the match was well aligned with that of his coach, admitting his performance had some highs and lows and hoping for another shot in the black jersey to apply the learnings and make his mark on the match.
“I spent the few hours after the game feeling proud of myself for accomplishing what I said I wanted to do when I came across to rugby,” he said. “But I was disappointed with my own game and I am looking for a bit more game time to improve on my performance.
“I pride myself on my work rate and the intensity was a huge step up from the national competition at home in New Zealand. It was a rollercoaster out there. I did a couple of good things and a couple of bad things. The biggest thing for me is feeling like you let the boys down.
“The only way you will improve as a player was through game time. We have class players but hopefully, I will get another shot. Hopefully, I can stay in that 22, keep learning and it will be like a snowball effect, so I can start expressing myself a lot more. If I do get another shot I will back myself a lot more.”
Henry backed his man and Williams started in the 12 jersey the following week at Murrayfield, a 49-3 victory where Sonny Bill earned man of the match with his offload game setting up three of the seven tries.
Comments on RugbyPass
I’m all for speeding up the game. But can we be certain that the slowness of the game contributed to fans walking out? I’m not so sure. Super rugby largely suffered from most fans only being able to, really, follow the games played in their own time zone. So at least a third of the fan base wasn’t engaged at any point in time. As a Saffer following SA teams in the URC - I now watch virtually every European game played on the weekend. In SR, I wouldn’t be bothered to follow the games being played on the other side of the world, at weird hours, if my team wasn’t playing. I now follow the whole tournament and not just the games in my time zone. Second, with New Zealand teams always winning. It’s like formula one. When one team dominates, people lose interest. After COVID, with SA leaving and Australia dipping in form, SR became an even greater one horse race. Thats why I think Japan’s league needs to get in the mix. The international flavor of those teams could make for a great spectacle. But surely if we believe that shaving seconds off lost time events in rugby is going to draw fans back, we should be shown some figures that supports this idea before we draw any major conclusions. Where are the stats that shows these changes have made that sort of impact? We’ve measured down to the average no. Of seconds per game. Where the measurement of the impact on the fanbase? Does a rugby “fan” who lost interest because of ball in play time suddenly have a revived interest because we’ve saved or brought back into play a matter of seconds or a few minutes each game? I doubt it. I don’t thinks it’s even a noticeable difference to be impactful. The 20 min red card idea. Agreed. Let’s give it a go. But I think it’s fairer that the player sent off is substituted and plays no further part in the game as a consequence.
1 Go to commentsThose are pretty good draws for the two top Aussie teams. I certainly wouldn't want my Chiefs to have a quarter final in Brisbane. None of the top teams will want the Crusaders.
1 Go to commentsHonestly, I am a bit lost here …. Ireland - RSA was (at least in my opinion) perhaps (from a purely technical / rugby-skills-show point of view) the pinnacle of the RWC2023 - almost flawless playing (putting aside the kicking of RSA which was the difference between the two teams), rugby at it’s very best …. if I were a Bok and after the game some Irish lads came around saying “see you in 5 weeks same place”, I definitely wouldn’t have thought of it as being in any way “arrogant”, rather a sort of jolly “if we both continue to play like this, no one could stop us” - besides, few of us fans would have, at that time, been surprised to see the same teams playing on 23 september and 28 october 2023 ….. well, we all know Ireland chose to hit a slump to keep the QF curse alive …..
134 Go to commentsThere’s value gleaned from having an All Black star running and training with your team. How many games he starts (or even where he plays in the backline) will be decided on a week by week basis based on the needs for that week. But the overall learning and growth for all concerned, I’d think, is massively beneficial. Especially for Irish players.
8 Go to commentsSon, whith just " raw athlete “ , you are able to beat “ better rugby players “ by 74 points…. May be England should recruit in athletics….
1 Go to commentsPffft. It’s not a one-way street bud and Irish teams don’t seem to have had an issue taking kiwi players previously.
8 Go to commentsParticularly great to have captain Scott Barrett back after going off last week for the Crusaders. Codie Taylor a real leader and mighty Tamaiti Williams join Fletcher Newell in the front row. Those 2 will make a big difference. Great bench with the likes of Tom Christie, Jamie Hannah etc who are playing well. Should be a great derby.
1 Go to commentsDoes a blitz defence not have a weekness against a well-placed grubber kick, perhaps angled cleverly. All the defence is up and the full-back can only cover so much ground. Thoughts?
28 Go to commentsWhile Iose is destructive in the Canes set-up, he is not big for an international 8 and could struggle against the top teams. With his speed, he could be developed into a seven but, as Ben points out, he doesn’t show a scavenging game with the Canes or make dominating tackles. Sotutu has shown a step up this year and attitude plus motivation seems to be the big areas of growth. Deserves another AB shot imo.
3 Go to commentsNaholo is my only question mark for this side. He wasn’t the only one who had a forgettable game against the Brumbies but he was passive, defensively poor and generally lacked energy. Needs to get a whole lot busier for me. I would have liked to see Sullivan on that wing with Higgins on the bench (if staying with a 6-2 as BeegMike points out on here!)
3 Go to commentsWell, I am sure that Eben said exactly what he meant to say, exactly how he meant to say it. Does he strike you as a man that doesn't know arrogance when he sees it. He should know it because he has shaken the arrogance out of many foes before.
134 Go to commentsPls get it into your thick arrogant heads that the final was played by two Southern Hemisphere teams. The best against the best and that Argentina was just unlucky otherwise non of the Northetn Hemisphere teams would have seen the light of day.
134 Go to commentsAs long as New Zealand youth are involved in sport they are passionate for, and are well supported, it’s all good. I love league as well as rugby. NRL clubs have long since scouted the First 15 competitions, the NH and Japan scout super rugby and NPC. It’s a miracle there’s any players left for the all blacks to pick from.
4 Go to commentsI'm a Bok fan, so I don't say this lightly, but he is one of my all time favourite players. I am really going to miss watching him play. Thanks for many great memories. You are a true legend of the game.
3 Go to commentsBest way to deal with all of this is to play another game.
134 Go to commentsIt’s 12-15 games Luke. Ringrose has barely played in 2024 and Henshaw and Keenan have also been out for spells in the same time period. There are always injuries and for younger players to play with the likes of Barrett will be great for them. It’s just looking for negatives where there are none.
8 Go to commentsAndy Goode pushing his own agenda with very dubious considerations on refereeing performances. Luke Pearce speaking a bit of French doesn’t make him a good and adequate referee for the Champions Cup final; his latest refereeing performance in particular was not so great.
4 Go to commentsJordie knows that he has to earn the right to put on the jersey, whatever that jersey might be.
8 Go to commentsThe best outside centre in the world at one point. He will be greatly missed.
3 Go to commentsYip his great for the big moments when needed as a safa really enjoy watching him
4 Go to comments