The Impact Sonny Bill Williams’ Return Will Have on All Blacks

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: December 21, 2013

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Sonny Bill Williams is set to return to New Zealand rugby in 2015, as was reported by the Otago Daily Times. The former All Black second five-eighth has signed a two-year deal with the Chiefs, which will see him once again compete for the No. 12 black jersey with incumbent Ma'a Nonu.

The move will be greeted with mixed feelings from many in New Zealand. While Williams is no doubt an outstanding athlete, who has great potential, his lack of long-term commitment to either rugby league or union means that neither can bargain on having him around in their systems for an extended period of time.

In this case, we see Williams' return coincide with the Rugby World Cup year, staying for another year to compete for a spot in the New Zealand Sevens side for the Olympics. It is nothing new for the superstar, who has a tendency to make sure he is around for the biggest events in either code.

That said, Williams is coming, so there is no use worrying about any of that any more.  How he will go is another question.

In his previous stint in rugby union, it took Williams the best part of two years to fully adjust to the game. It was not until his 2012 move to the Chiefs in Super Rugby that he began to really show what he was capable of. 

Playing outside Aaron Cruden, Williams was getting the ball at the line and looked threatening in both running and distributing.

Williams' offloading game has always been amongst the best in the business, but he now knows when to use it, making it harder to defend as the defence cannot just rush up to close down the outside channel. Defensively, Williams looked far more assured too and formed a reliable midfield partnership with Richard Kahui.

His form with the All Blacks that year was sublime prior to his departure and, had he not left, he surely would have remained the first-choice No. 12 ahead of Nonu.

But by 2015,&n...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Rugby Union

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