Lions told to stop Sonny Bill danger
The British and Irish Lions must stop “monster” centre Sonny Bill Williams to stand any chance of beating New Zealand, according to Rhys Webb.
Williams conjured a magisterial break and offload to send Ihaia West haring home for the winning try as the Blues floored the Lions 22-16 at Eden Park in Auckland yesterday, their first defeat of the tour.
Head coach Warren Gatland admitted “one moment of magic” was all it took to unpick the Lions, and Wales scrum-half Webb accepts the tourists will have their work cut out to contain Williams in the fast-approaching Tests against the All Blacks.
“He’s a monster; everyone knows what he can do,” said scrum-half Webb, of former rugby league star Williams.
“He got them over the gain line. He’s got that class about him.
“We know he’s going to be a threat in a couple of weeks’ time, so it’s good to play against him now. He’s special, he’s an athlete, he’s a world-class individual.”
Williams only needed one trademark mix of deadly break and deft offload to sink the Lions in Blues colours, and Webb admitted the tourists are already wary of a repeat in the Test series.
“He’s a big-game player, he’s world-class, he showed a couple of glimpses of what he can do,” said Webb.
“We’ll need to be on the money to stop him in a couple of weeks’ time. Our defence has got to be strong, we’ve got to be physical, and obviously track that offload as well. He can throw these unbelievable off loads from nowhere.”
CJ Stander scored the Lions’ sole try, with Leigh Halfpenny kicking a conversion and three penalties. “There’s no sense of panic, not at all,” added Welsh star Webb.