All Black sensation Sonny Bill Williams reckons he’s still “a work in progress” despite his starring role in a 49-3 rout of Scotland here at Murrayfield.
New Zealand scored seven tries, several created by rugby league convert Williams’s brilliant skill in slipping the ball out of the back of his hand.
In an era where much of the talk in both codes of rugby has been about players’ physical prowess — and at 1.91m and 108kg Williams’s vital statistics are impressive — the centre’s display was a reminder there is still a place for a midfielder who knows how to time a pass.
Such was the commanding nature of Williams’s display, and the way his team-mates were on the same wavelength, it was easy to forget that Saturday’s match was only his second Test in rugby union.
But he has now played a major role in helping New Zealand be halfway to what would be a third ‘grand slam’ in five years following their 2005 and 2008 clean sweeps of the ‘Home Nations’, with Ireland looking to stem the All Black tide in Dublin this coming weekend ahead of the tour finale against Wales.
Not that the 25-year-old Williams, who played alongside England fly-half hero Jonny Wilkinson at French club Toulon before heading home, was getting carried away.
“There’s still things I need to address and work on, but I’ve always said I’m a work in progress,” Williams insisted. “I’ve got to keep on working and continue to improve.
“It was a good game because the team played terrifically. As a whole our forwards led the way and made it a lot easier for us to get that quick ball and get a roll on.”
And Williams was the first to pay tribute to the quality of New Zealand’s support play, long a feature of the Tri-Nations champions’ game.
“I just hope they catch it, because if they don’t catch it…
“You’re only as good as your support play and you probably can’t get much better than the boys that I played alongside in the last couple of weeks. It does make it a lot easier.”
Williams’s debut came in the 25-16 win over England at Twickenham and he kept his place in Edinburgh as Ma’a Nonu made way for Conrad Smith.
New Zealand coach Graham Henry now finds himself in the enviable position of having three fine players available for two midfield spots and Williams added it was by no means certain he would start against Ireland.
“Ma’a and Conrad to me are the best midfield combination in the world,” Williams said.
“As long as I can keep my foot in there and hopefully keep staying in that 22 and get a bit of game time here and there, I know I’ll improve.
“It was a step forward – now I know I can mix it at this level — but in saying that there’s still big games ahead and there’s a long way to go.”
Scotland’s promising run of four matches unbeaten, including a Six Nations win away to Ireland and a 2-0 Test series victory in Argentina, under former England coach Andy Robinson was ended in brutal fashion with a record home loss to New Zealand.
This weekend sees world champions South Africa, fresh from a 29-25 win over Wales, come to Murrayfield amidst fears much of the recent progress made by Scotland could be undone in a fortnight if they suffer another thrashing.
But Scotland flanker John Barclay said he hoped the pain of defeat would spur the side on to greater things against the Springboks.
“For me personally it’s slightly embarrassing and massively disappointing,” said Barclay. “I’d like to think there will be a response from the players.
“There will be questions asked, there will be harsh words said, but that’s the harsh reality of it — that’s what should happen if you get beaten in the manner that we did.
“Next week we’ll need to deliver a performance.” — Sapa-AFP