SBW’s absence will cut deep
4 Aug 2012
RYAN VREDE writes that rugby will desperately miss the freakish talent that is Sonny Bill Williams.
Williams has played his last Super Rugby game for at least two years, having agreed a short-term deal with Japan’s Wild Knights before returning to rugby league. He will start in the All Blacks’ first two Rugby Championship Tests, with coach Steve Hansen prepared to accommodate him ahead of alternatives. He is a match winner. Hansen is no fool. It is that simple.
It is uncertain whether Williams will return to union in 2014, although it is expected he will. Indeed he intimated that he had contractually committed to a league return before he had found his spiritual home at the Chiefs. His celebration upon scoring this evening said everything you need to know about his feelings for the franchise’s players and their supporters. That relationship and the desire to play in the 2015 World Cup for the All Blacks may be strong incentives to return.
The Chiefs collectively were excellent in securing the title. But the defining characteristic of the greatest players is their ability to produce an inspired moment that proves to be a decisive action in matches of the highest significance. Williams delivered such inspiration in the 19th minute.
Taking the ball on the cut from the brilliant Aaron Cruden, who now is surely the natural successor to Dan Carter, Williams eluded Beast Mtawarira, brushed aside Anton Bresler and stepped Lwazi Mvovo before offloading in the tackle in a move that birthed their first try. It killed the Sharks’ resistance, their belief, their resolve.
And like the greats, Williams’ value has transcended what he offered technically. Bryan Habana once told me that when he looked at Fourie du Preez in the change room pre-match or at critical times during games, his belief was lifted because he knew the scrumhalf had the potential to be the difference between winning and losing. Williams has had Du Preez-like influence on these Chiefs.
Not since Jonah Lomu has a player had this impact on the game.
He was a force in 2011 but is now a refined player – more intelligent, aware, street smart, and as a result more unpredictable. Lending similes from his love and aptitude for boxing – his trademark offload remains his haymaker, but he has added a punishing jab and body work to his repertoire.
Some credit here must go to coaches Dave Rennie and Wayne Smith, who have understood the value of engineering mismatches for the midfielder, rather than asking him to carry the ball up in the early phases. In handling the ball less but in more favourable situations, Williams’ threat has been amplified. And in an environment where the elite sides’ defence is virtually impenetrable, Williams is the one player to consistently thrive.
Williams has now won every trophy on offer in the southern hemisphere since his return to New Zealand, and, tellingly, has played a central role in each of those successes. Rugby has given him plenty of hardware, improved him technically and soaring celebrity, as well as less tangible but more valuable things like friendship, brotherhood and emotional maturity. In turn he has given the game and it’s disciples too many breathless moments to count and regular reminders of what genius looks like.
I hope he’ll be back. Rugby needs him to come back. It is lesser without him.
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27 Comments
4 Aug 2012, 11:44 am
nobody gonna miss this d ooooos, show pony delux. my sister could have scored the same try tonight. he did f u k all the whole night
4 Aug 2012, 12:09 pm
nice piece ryan…
4 Aug 2012, 12:18 pm
Will he start against the Aussies? He may well be suspended for a trademark shoulder charge. Nevertheless, he is a good player and will be missed.
4 Aug 2012, 12:29 pm
excellent piece ou Ryan
4 Aug 2012, 12:42 pm
Necks of Union players will breathe a sigh of relief
4 Aug 2012, 12:56 pm
He is simply one of the best rugby players either code that we have seen. In any competition, a motivated SBW is a world class spectacle.
4 Aug 2012, 13:20 pm
Excellent piece. Say what you will about SBW, but he’s an immensely talented footballer who always goes all out for his side. Rugby needs more guys like him, not less.
4 Aug 2012, 13:23 pm
I’d rather he was available. you always want to see the best against the best.
4 Aug 2012, 13:27 pm
1 whatever
please remind us all of your achievements on a rugby field…and dont give us some smart-*** answer…
4 Aug 2012, 13:33 pm
Jonah was far more influential, intimidating, game changing and inspiring than Sonny Bill could ever hope to be.
4 Aug 2012, 14:53 pm
1 Whatever
F0K jou. Nobody has a bigger and broader following than him. Lomu made rugby attractive to rugby lovers AND people that are new to the game. Name me a bigger stadium filler and crowd pleaser since Lomu?
4 Aug 2012, 15:24 pm
A really talented player, but the real thing he has done for rugby is opened it up to the idea of swapping clubs and transferring constantly (think European Football). I think in the long run we’ll look back and consider the damage he’s done more than the brilliance of his ability.
Terrific ability, the ultimate gun-for-hire. Rugby will miss the SBW spectacle, but not the man himself.
4 Aug 2012, 16:15 pm
He brought so much to the game. He will be missed…
4 Aug 2012, 16:32 pm
@whatever-1: another of those intellectual South African giants, bullish because he is anonymous, and limited in offering anything of substance. Logon ‘whatever’ opening line ‘door’
4 Aug 2012, 16:33 pm
@Hofter Son-10: thanks I take it you have done the survey on rugby’s global audience to speak with such authority
4 Aug 2012, 16:36 pm
@lepel-12: Damage done? He is the first true professional in that he refuses anything beyond a 1 year contract and is willing to take the risks of pay me what I am worth and if I don’t produce don’t pay me the next year.
A brilliant athlete and an even better rugby league and union player. To have produced at the level he did after 18 months in rugby in NZ takes a special talent.
The opinions on SBW I value are that of his opposition, his teammates and his coaches. None works harder at his game, he is a huge team man and all agree he is brilliant for the game, not the field and because of the drawcard he is off the field.
4 Aug 2012, 16:40 pm
@keo-14:
Wham
@keo-15:
Bam
This is like old school batman program
4 Aug 2012, 18:04 pm
Greatest rugby player since carter came onto the scene. NZ seems to produce them like no other country. Like of lomu,carter,Mccaw and zinzan were not only the best at their time but arguably the best ever in their positions.
4 Aug 2012, 22:00 pm
@keo-16: Keo, a lot of SBW articles. Are you hoping to cash in and write his book or just a genuine fan?
Me, I’m sad to see him go. I have no problem with him changing clubs. Crusaders is a gang of glory chasers, more than half of them are from out of the province and surely there because of the region’s success. SBW instead went to the Chiefs, not for money, not for glory, but to be close to his Mum (and to escape the earthquakes). He took the glory with him and won the super cup.
4 Aug 2012, 22:30 pm
Not another I love Sonny, media hype
Cannot tackle, cannot kick, shoulder charge
Keo, show how many games you played and at what level
4 Aug 2012, 23:07 pm
@heboric-5:
Theyve slept well for the past season knowing they ddnt have to watch their backs, necks, eyes and ribs and….since Bakkies left. The Bulls miss him so much, they even named a ‘move’ in his honour. You may have seen it – Chilliboy and Flip, like Laurel & Hardy, getting “Bakkies’d” vs the Crusaders, with not even a squeezed-pimple blemish in sight.
It looks liike your nikname has been stolen – surely it was ‘hubris’.
5 Aug 2012, 07:34 am
To think there are players in the league ranks who are the equivalent of Sbw…..Inglis, Barber,Thurston,Marshall,Slater…….feel yourself lucky Sa. As for Sbw……a Blues jersey is awaiting you 2014 or anytime you wish.
5 Aug 2012, 08:24 am
@22
only saw youtube clips but Benji Marshall is an outrageous talent. hell rugby needs these guys with their freakish talents.Heard of Inglis too..will check some of those other names out sometime
5 Aug 2012, 08:45 am
I enjoyed your piece Ryan. It was well written, informative and will generate discussion. I think its material such as this which keeps this site alive and worth visiting. A genuine ‘well done’.
5 Aug 2012, 21:31 pm
Is he still fighting die Wit Buffel?
6 Aug 2012, 09:59 am
@Te Rangatira-22: The worst part is that SBW was almost a nobody in league in comparison to some of the players you’ve listed.
Beside being a crowd favourite with his trademark shoulder charges, he never came close to the level of Inglis, Marshall, Slater or Thurston in his previous stint in the NRL.
7 Aug 2012, 06:41 am
@DonutDunning-26:
- Made his debut for the Kiwis as their youngest-ever Test player in the 2004 ANZAC Test against Australia.
- Experienced Premiership success in his rookie year and became the youngest person to play for the Bulldogs in a Grand Final when playing off the bench in the Bulldogs’ 16–13 victory over the Sydney Roosters in the 2004 NRL grand final.
- Capped off a successful debut season by receiving the International Newcomer of the Year Award and being named in Rugby League World magazine’s 2004 World XIII.
does not translate to “almost a nobody in League” compared to anyone, Mal Meninga & King Wally included.
The likes of Inglis, Marshall & Slater only star when the ugly mutts up front have done the damage first.
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