Fasting SBW Eager To Feast On Lions
There’s a hunger about Sonny Bill Williams as he gets set for what could well be the first of four cracks against the touring British and Irish Lions this winter.
That’s partly because the highest-profile Muslim in New Zealand sport is in the midst of Ramadan, a holy month of fasting and religious devotion, that he must balance with his commitments as one of the world’s leading rugby professionals.
But there’s also a metaphorical hunger about the code-crossing All Black as he looks to leave behind a stop-start season of frustrations to unleash the form and rhythm that makes him, at his best, one of the most destructive midfielders in the game. Williams was named at second five-eighths in the Blues team to face the touring Lions in front of a 40,000-plus crowd at Eden Park tonight, a recent knee problem having cleared in the nick of time. He described his chances of playing as “pretty high”, even if a bracketed backup (TJ Faiane) had been appointed.
He should also be selected, just a few hours later, in Steve Hansen’s All Blacks squad to face the Lions, the dual World Cup-winner expected, fitness permitting, to be a key part of the midfield plans for the No 1 side in world rugby.
FASTING
First things first. Williams indicated he did not expect any issues resulting from the fasting requirements of Ramadan, which started on May 26 and runs through until June 24. He is well used to working around that by now.
“I find the fasting easiest,” he told media at the Blues team announcement press conference.
“It’s just when I have to train. Getting through the field-based footy is easy, and I just push back the weights until I break fast. But thank God in New Zealand, in this part of the world, we only fast nine hours a day, 10 hours max. In Europe and some parts of the world it’s 16-18 hours. That’s pretty tough. The first week is the toughest, but after that the body starts to get used to it. I just try and do the best I can.” Williams was also hugely excited about the chance to face up against the might of the Lions and admitted it was a chance for both the team and himself as an individual to put some of their frustrations of 2017 behind them.
SLOW START
Williams made a belated start to the season because of the long recovery from the ruptured Achilles he suffered in Rio last year, and has also missed games of late through concussion and a knee problem. As a result his form has been just a little on the erratic side. “We’re disappointed we won’t be playing in the finals this year,” he said of the Blues’ now forlorn Super Rugby playoff hopes after seven wins and a draw from their 14 matches thus far.
“But there are a lot of positives to take out of it. We’re building as a squad, and every team that’s played us would probably tell you it hasn’t been an easy contest. In saying that one of our goals was to be playing finals footy at the end of the season and we can’t hide from the fact we haven’t achieved that. We’ve got to look to keep building towards next year.
“With myself it’s been stopstart, stop-start. Coming off a big injury like I had, I’m pretty happy with how I’ve been going. I’m looking to try play some consistent footy, and get out there as much as I can. I’m really excited to get out there this week.”
Hungry to feed on some Lions, you might say.