Who would bet against SBW?
OPINION: If New Zealand Rugby could bottle Sonny Bill Williams’ professionalism they would store it at their Wellington HQ in a safe among their most prized possessions.
On Tuesday the All Blacks midfielder was filmed at Blues training.
Williams has been out of the game for eight months and is a father to two young children but still looks in better condition than certain players 10 years his junior.
Brilliant players, incidentally. A pair of siblings with enough talent to rule the world in their respective positions but apparently not yet with the right habits.
TV cameras captured the players in question huffing and puffing on shuttle runs away from the rest of the group while All Blacks assistant Wayne Smith was among those watching on. Oh to have heard what words Smith passed on to them as they caught their breath.
Lingering doubts about fitness or work rate is not something that Williams has ever left himself exposed to.
Look at the man. Ahead of a possible return action against the Highlanders the midfielder looks to restored the weight to his frame that he lost to compete in the sevens format. He’s intimidating because he’s done the work.
The question of course is: will he be right by the time the British and Irish Lions arrive. The answer is: why wouldn’t he be?
He has two months to find his rhythm and confidence in that repaired Achilles. There will be doubts about whether the injury has robbed him of a bit of acceleration but we are in a new era when it comes to serious injuries and rehab.
Nepo Laulala and Tawera Kerrbarlow are somehow playing brightly on knees that have been smashed. Who still remembers that Aaron Cruden did an ACL? Outside these shores David Pocock needed back-to-back reconstructions. Our assumptions about what is possible are out of date.
Moreover, a key decision has fallen Williams’ way.
If you were to draw up a list of winners from the call to release the All Blacks to play for the Blues and Crusaders against the Lions then Williams would be near the top of it. The fixture looks made to test his readiness.
The All Blacks must regard these games as something of a double-edged sword. The risk of injuries will have them chewing on fingernails but the intelligence they collect will be invaluable.
The debate then moves to where Williams fits into an All Blacks midfield that is not short of options. I suspect it’s a lot simpler than appears on first inspection. If Williams is fit and in form he will wear No 12 and the question will be who partners him.
My preference would be Ryan Crotty, with Anton Lienert-brown a whisker away.
There will be another player in Dunedin on Saturday night worthy of heavy scrutiny, although he could hardly be a bigger contrast to Williams.
Luke Whitelock is unfashionable and stuck on one All Blacks cap. But he also has the attributes to start at No 8 in a serious test match, where his attributes are more suited to that brutal arena than more fancied alternatives.
He is technically the best tackler in the country, works hard, takes lineouts, cleans out heavily and has stuck around to add to that solitary cap. Will Greenwood, England’s 2003 World Cup winner, had a spell coaching Whitelock for the Barbarians last year and picked him out for special praise.
Greenwood said a European club should throw truckloads of cash at him and build a side around him, if they could persuade him to abandon his All Blacks dream.
On Saturday Whitelock faces Jerome Kaino and possibly Steve Luatua. Williams may not be the only man the selectors are looking at.