You would think, as a two-time Rugby World Cup winner, Sonny Bill Williams’ legacy wearing the black jersey would be secure. Think again. The enigmatic but highly influential talisman, who will almost certainly leave New Zealand rugby after Friday night’s bronze medal match in Tokyo, will depart as he started – dividing opinion like no All Black ever has before.
For those in the pro camp, Williams is one of the greatest athletes to have ever been an All Black, a success in rugby league, union and in the boxing ring, a man capable of the big off-loading play, a match and title winner. Critics view him as entitled and injury prone, a player who seemed to pick when he played and was given allowances that were accorded to few, if any, of his teammates.
The most realistic appraisal probably lies somewhere in between.
Had the All Blacks won in Japan, Williams would have joined Kieran Read and Sam Whitelock as the only players to have lifted the Webb Ellis trophy three times. Instead, after a personal tournament that underwhelmed, the failure has fuelled the doubters, who argue he has largely ridden on the coat-tails of others and couldn’t provide the point of difference against England when it was his turn to lead.
It is the perception, his fault or not, of being placed above others in the team, that has probably done the most damage. The expectation that Williams will always be picked, “because he is Sonny”, hasn’t sat well with many, including some former teammates. A record of just 18 appearances for the Blues across the last three years, while playing 24 times for the All Blacks, does paint the picture of a player who either has a body clock set for the big occasions, or “times” his injuries conveniently.
It’s no secret that clients of prominent Australian sports manager Khoder Nasser don’t come cheap. As the flagship of the Nasser stable, Williams’ services undoubtedly cost New Zealand Rugby plenty. That may go some way to explaining how he has been able to jump in and out of the team, despite playing relatively few games beforehand.
Williams featured in more than 60% of his team’s matches only twice in his six Super Rugby seasons. The first was in 2011 at the Crusaders, when he was still a development project and needed to be seen as he was no certainty of a place at that year’s World Cup. The next was a year later, before he returned to league, when he moved to Hamilton and joined a Chiefs side chasing the title.
Williams played all 18 matches in the Chiefs’ maiden championship in 2012. That is just 10 less than he managed for an also-rans Blues team across his three most recent Super Rugby seasons. Yet he walked straight into the All Blacks each time.
After missing all of the 2016 season due to an injury suffered while playing sevens at the Olympic Games, Williams played just seven games on return for the Blues the next year, but was still immediately injected into the once-in-a-lifetime British & Irish Lions series and wound up playing 13 of the 14 All Black Tests that year.
A case of good timing? It was certainly better than the timing of the shoulder that levelled both Anthony Watson and the All Blacks’ chances in the second Test, seeing Williams red carded and suspended for the deciding match of the series. For much of his career, Williams has lived the hype; this week’s well-timed revelation of the alleged $9m offer to return to league with the Toronto Wolfpack quickly associated his name with a positive headline following the All Blacks’ Rugby World Cup exit.
Yet he has also been skilfully protected from it by the street smart but uncompromising Nasser. His is a management style that was completely new for New Zealand rugby – one that has demanded and been given plenty of accommodation.
Nasser would argue, with some justification, that his man is worth it. Twin NRL titles with the Bulldogs and Roosters, a Super Rugby title with the Chiefs, an NPC with Canterbury and, of course, 57 Tests and two World Cups with the All Blacks. It’s quite a CV.
Regardless of which view to which you subscribe, there is at least one point about Williams’ time in rugby that everyone can agree on as it nears the end. There has never been an All Black career quite like his.
