SBW not getting carried away with big win

Sonny Bill Williams was as grounded off the field as he was understated on it on Saturday night.

The Chiefs’ outstanding 40-16 victory over the Crusaders at Waikato Stadium was littered with some fine touches from the big second-five but he certainly did not overplay his hand in a superb understanding of the team game.

And afterwards Williams showed there will be no Chiefs getting carried away with their five-tries-to-one victory, saying it was only early days.

‘‘We’ll take the points and be pleased with the effort but know that it’s a long year, the Crusaders are a quality outfit and nights like this don’t happen too often,’’ Williams said.

‘‘We’re happy with three wins and five points obviously tonight, which is no easy feat against a quality outfit like the Crusaders but it’s back to work on Monday.’’

Williams is a former Crusader and while he was a late scratching from the previous weekend’s win over the Brumbies with a calf injury, there was no way he was going to miss out this

Sonny Bill Williams’ passing skills and anticipation were as impressive as his power game at Waikato Stadium on Saturday night. time despite having both calves iced towards the end of training on Thursday afternoon.

‘‘They were feeling a little bit tight [on Thursday] but I was happy with the work we did during the week to get it right.’’

Williams was a central part of three big games with the Crusaders in 2012, two of which the Chiefs won, so he knows what these games are all about – tension, intensity and physicality.

‘‘Especially in the last few years, and watching from afar in the last couple, there have been some awesome games and it’s just nice to be back and getting a win that is very hard to come by.’’

Williams scored the opening try after some great lead-up work by Augustine Pulu and Johan Bardoul, lunging over with a seemingly super-extended right arm to kick the Chiefs’ winning run into gear.

And while his powerful ball running was mostly well contained by the Crusaders’ defence, it still got the Chiefs on the front foot with holes opening up elsewhere in the defence.

But it was some of his heady touches that really caught the eye, laying on midfield partner Charlie Ngatai’s try with his timed run on to a superb wide pass from Sam Cane; putting James Lowe away for the final try with good vision after a turnover; and otherwise being content to play an accurate team game rather than take on too much individually.