Tamaiti Williams' focus on tighthead prop just the tonic NZ rugby needs
After a rock-solid introduction to Super Rugby in 2021, Tamaiti Williams is set to make a massive impact on the competition next year – and in a position where New Zealand is desperate for some new blood.
Williams, at well over 130 kilograms and still just 21 years old, transitioned from the loose forwards to the front row during his senior high school years. While he earned all seven of his appearances for the Crusaders this season playing on the loosehead side of the scrum, that’s not where the young forward sees his future in the game.
“I’m a tighthead,” Williams, who has stopped on the side of the road between Wanaka and Christchurch to chat after a few well-deserved days away, emphatically tells RugbyPass. “I played loosehead in school and for the Canterbury Under 19s but I’m transitioning back to tighthead now.”
While Williams has played the majority of his provincial rugby at tighthead prop, external forces have forced him onto the left side of the scrum at various stages throughout his career.
Most recently, the foot injury suffered by first-choice loosehead Joe Moody six weeks into the Super Rugby Aotearoa season suddenly tested the Crusaders’ depth, with George Bower stepping into the starting role and Williams getting the nod ahead of the more experienced Isileli Tuungafasi as the back-up option on the bench.
“When the opportunity came up, I was told ‘Put a bit of work into this and you might get a run’ and obviously I was keen,” Williams says. “With those boys going down, I got way more time than I thought I would get.
“I kind of wasn’t expecting to get much, if any minutes this year. My goals were to just start building habits and follow what the older boys do.”
With two All Blacks loosehead props on the books in the form of Moody and Bower, there isn’t likely to be many opportunities on that side of the Crusaders scrum next season, while the departure of Michael Alaalatoa to Leinster means there’s no obvious incumbent in the No 3 jersey.
That’s where Williams sees his future.
“I got away with playing loosehead because I’m naturally strong. Loosehead’s fun, you’re running around the pitch and you get to do all the fun stuff but I reckon tighthead, if you want to be the best, then you can be the best at tighthead.
“I want to be a tighthead and I’ve just been grafting away at that. I reckon it’s the hardest position on the field. I think you’ve got to be a lot more technical at tighthead and if your technique is even one per cent off and you can get pumped.”
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Both Oli Jager and Fletcher Newell prefer the tighthead side of the scrum but neither player is an established Super Rugby starter.
Across the country as a whole, there’s ample talent coming through at loosehead prop with established options such as Aidan Ross and Alex Hodgman missing out on All Blacks selection this year, while young guns Ethan de Groot and Ollie Norris have both shown huge promise in their limited Super Rugby showings.
The well of up-and-coming talent isn’t quite so plentiful at tighthead prop, however.
Nepo Laulala, Ofa Tuungafasi and Angus Ta’avao earned minutes for the national side in 2021 but Ian Foster has made it clear – as did his predecessor – that dynamic ball-running props will be needed for the coming years.
For a former loose forward like Williams, that should be music to his ears – not that he’s really looking ahead beyond 2022.
“I’m such a short-term operator,” he says. “If I’m thinking about the next five years, it doesn’t really work for me. Once it gets to Super, I’m fully invested in the Crusaders and then if I make Maoris, I’m fully invested in that team.
“You get feedback through the coaches. There’s always a template you want to fill: dynamic, dominant. There’s always that type of stuff. I think the coaching is quite aligned between Super and the other levels. I think [the All Blacks selectors] just feed what they want through the Super coaches.”
In the future, Williams is hopeful that he’ll be able to cover both sides of the scrum to a high standard, but the short-term focus has to be on one role.
“I’ve always kind of looked at Ofa Tuungafasi. When he’s in the ABs, he can play both sides of the scrum. I look at that as an asset.
“If the opportunity comes and the coach is like ‘Do you feel like jumping in at loosehead for a couple of weeks because we might have an injury and you might get a bit of game time there?’, I wouldn’t say no. I enjoy both but I just want to focus on being a tighthead for a bit, a couple of years, try and evolve there and maybe in the future, look to jump back and forward.”
For the moment, Williams is taking a well-deserved break after his first year as a full-time professional rugby player – one that saw him clock up more minutes for the Crusaders than he was anticipating, but fewer than he’d been hoping for with Canterbury, thanks to a run of hard-to-shake injuries.
The NPC season kicked off in the opening week of August and Williams first took the field for Canterbury a week later. From that point on, Covid and injuries kept the 21-year-old limited to just two further appearances throughout the campaign.
“I did my calf during the first lockdown [in late August], the four-week lockdown,” Williams says. “Then I came back, played against Southland and then in training I got a little hamstring grab and so I was just nursing that for a couple of weeks. Then during rehab, I got a big grab, so that put me out for another five or six weeks.
“The weeks add up pretty fast when it’s your hammy. It’s been a long road from there and I’m still coming back from another little niggle with my calf but I’m basically all good.”
It shouldn't come as a surprise that there were a few Super Rugby sides chasing the signature of new Chiefs recruit Cortez Ratima. #SuperRugbyPacifichttps://t.co/zOxvgruwyb
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 8, 2021
While injuries are never ideal, they gave Williams some much-needed time out from the weekly rigours of professional rugby and an opportunity to step back and fine-tune his routines.
“It’s actually been a blessing,” he admits, “because I’ve never had an injury that put me out for over two weeks. I’ve had the odd shoulder thing, but you can still play with it.
“I’ve learned a lot over the last 10 to 12 weeks about my training and my rehab and my recovery. I just bought a pair of new Normatecs and try to get to the pool every day. Before, I was lifting weights every day and putting on weight but then we found out I don’t need to put on any more weight, so I moved to more metabolic conditioning-based training.”
Williams is currently sitting just north of the 140kg mark but will look to trim down a few kilos at pre-season training to be at his optimum playing weight.
Understandably, managing weight is no easy task when you’re trying to eat enough to maintain a sizeable presence on the park, but not surge over that ideal level – especially when lockdowns and injuries come into play. The current period away from the game is actually helping Williams to navigate the challenge, however, as he knows that he won’t be spending too long in camp over the coming weeks so he won’t have the opportunity to make up for any blowouts.
The break will also allow for a mental refresh, with Williams admitting he was feeling burned out from all rugby earlier in the season without yet possessing the tools to deal with the ups and downs of being a professional sportsman.
“I think it’s just finding the balance,” Williams says. “I’d wake up, think about rugby, go to sleep, think about rugby. It’s another reason why I’m just starting a clothing line. It’s been fun just to get my mind totally off rugby because once you walk out of those training doors, you need to switch off.
“Growing up and going to seminars, you hear people talk about it saying you’ve got to have the balance but at that point, all you want to do is make the team. But I think I burned myself out because everything I was doing was about rugby. If I could fit all the rugby into that window from when I walk through those doors in the morning to when I walk out in the afternoon, I wouldn’t burn out.
“A lot of things pile on if you’re not playing well or training well but when you are playing well and training well, everything’s so smooth. It’s just about building the knowledge of what to do when things aren’t going well, how to make that smooth. You’re up and down, you’re always going to have bad days and good days so it’s just learning the tools how to get back to the good days, that’s what I learned.”
Undoubtedly, Tamaiti Williams still has a long way to go – to master being a professional, to master playing at tighthead prop, and to master the highs and lows of a career in rugby. The 21-year-old clearly has all the assets needed to thrive in the modern game, however, and after a short break away, 2022 is looming as a massive year in the young prop’s career.
Comments on RugbyPass
The rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
76 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
9 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
9 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
9 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
9 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
9 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
2 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to comments