Hansen OK SBW will glove up
Sonny Bill Williams has already won a points decision with Steve Hansen.
Williams is almost ready to resume his rugby career, after injuring his shoulder in New Zealand’s 49-14 win over France in June. But it’s talk of his scheduled return to the boxing ring that is making headlines in the meantime.
The 33-year-old will meet an undisclosed opponent in Sydney, on December 1, in a charity event that’s being labelled the ‘‘Banger in the Hanger.’’
The bout comes just days after the All Blacks end their season with a test match against Italy in Rome on November 24. It’s a tight turnaround but one that doesn’t trouble coach Hansen.
‘‘Look, from my understanding I think it’s a very, very lowkey fight and it’s about raising money for the homeless in Sydney and for the Auckland City Mission,’’ Hansen said yesterday.
‘‘He [Williams] is pretty confident. I’ve spoken to Khoder [Williams’ agent Khoder Nasser], Khoder’s confident that what’s going to take place won’t be of hinderance to him, so you’ve got to back their judgement and from what I understand it shouldn’t be too much of a task.’’
Williams, a former New Zealand heavyweight champion, hasn’t fought for three years but doesn’t sound as if he’ll be walking into some knock ‘em down, drag ‘em out thriller in Sydney.
He certainly won’t spend New Zealand’s end of year tour supplementing his rugby training with overly-intense sparring sessions while in Europe.
‘‘No, I think he’s just going to get off the plane [in Sydney] and do it. That’s the sort of athlete he is,’’ Hansen said.
‘‘We’ve got guys boxing all the time, as part of their training. Again, my understanding of the fight is that it’s more of an exhibition fight.
‘‘You’re probably better off having a good yarn to him about it, because he’ll be able to fill you in on all the details. But I don’t have any problem with him doing it.’’
There had been hopes, certainly at Cronulla Sharks captain Paul Gallen’s end, that he and Williams might fight at some point. Gallen has long tried to shame Williams, a two-time NRL premiership winner with Canterbury-Bankstown and the Sydney Roosters, into a bout.
Williams assures Gallen happen. Just not yet.
‘‘Tell my good friend Paul, he can just relax and we will get there eventually,’’ Williams was quoted as saying. ‘‘He keeps calling me out by attacking me and questioning my manhood. I’ve been involved in sports for long enough to understand that the bravado, the macho talk is just rubbish.’’ it’ll
Just as well there’s nothing bashful about Shannon Frizell’s footy. The big blindside flanker remains very shy when it comes to talking but he more than introduced himself to a few Pumas on Saturday night, with some bruising runs across the Trafalgar Park turf.
Frizell was one of the All Blacks’ stand-out performers, as they beat Argentina 46-24 in Nelson, showing a particular ability to run off short-balls from lock Scott Barrett.
‘‘I’m proud of my efforts but playing with the best in the world makes your job easy,’’ Frizell said, after scoring a try in New Zealand’s comfortable win.
At 1.95m and 108kgm Frizell’s workrate was impressive for a big man. Particularly, one who’d been in the squad for six test matches but, till now, had made one appearance off the bench.
‘‘I couldn’t wait to be out there and play at home,’’ said the Tongan, who plays his provincial rugby for the Nelsonbased Tasman Mako.
His performance definitely impressed All Blacks coach Steve Hansen. Along with that of fellow flanker Ardie Savea.
‘‘You couldn’t be anything other than extremely happy with him,’’ Hansen said of Frizell.
‘‘Did we plan to give him 80 minutes? Probably not. Did he go 80 minutes? Yep, he did, and at one point I thought I’m not sure if he’s going to get there and then he got his second wind and he and Ardie, I thought, were outstanding. In that last 15 minutes, they found another cog and carried well for us.
‘‘But he [Frizell] can be really satisfied, on reflection, with how well he’s gone and I think he’s got a big future.’’
Frizell was prominent with ball in hand. The team, particularly in the first, looked for him to carry on multiple occasions. He’s still raw and has things to learn on defence but he was strong over the ball at times and there’s plenty for Hansen and co to work with there.