Big move brings big chance for Williams

Murray Williams hopes he will do well for Bay of Plenty. Picture / Alan Gibson

An Auckland logjam has helped give Murray Williams the biggest opportunity of his fledgling career against the Lions on Saturday.

The young Ponsonby first five-eighths transferred south late last year and steps into the firing line after being named in the Bay of Plenty team for the tour opener in Rotorua.

Williams - no relation to Auckland, Ponsonby and All Black legend Bryan Williams - was in the Blues and Auckland development squads for the past two years.

A former national secondary schools and under-19 representative, he had one outing for Auckland, kicking nine conversions in the 100-15 Ranfurly Shield walloping of Counties Manukau last August.

So there was no doubting his promise, but getting a game was the tricky part.

"I didn't get a chance in Auckland obviously, with Carlos Spencer and Tasesa Lavea there," Williams said last night.

"I wanted to see if I could play at that level, and that's probably the biggest reason I came down."

With Glen Jackson having gone to England at the end of last season, there was a gap and Williams went for it.

Williams, who played for Ponsonby in their club championship victory last year, admitted he had had half an eye on the Lions game since moving to the province in February.

"It's been a bit of a goal," he said. 'If I came down and proved myself in the club scene I could get an opportunity. It's definitely a huge occasion, Bay of Plenty have given me a chance and I hope I can do well for them. They're an awesome bunch of guys."

Bay coach Vern Cotter likes the look of Williams and is sure that getting dropped in at the deep end won't faze him.

"He's composed, he learns quickly, he's got a professional attitude to the game, and we've got belief in him," he said.

Nine Chiefs are in the starting XV, including six in the pack, the exceptions being lock Mark Sorenson, who was part of the Chiefs training squad, and gifted No 8 Colin Bourke, who edged out rugged 100-game veteran Paul Tupai.

One new name is Fijian flyer Filimone Bolavucu, who had six games for Waikato before switching this year. He bagged five tries in two warm-up games and impressed Cotter with his pace.

Captain Wayne Ormond finished training yesterday with four stitches over an eye. Cotter quipped that it was just a ploy to toughen up the inspirational leader's match-day appearance.

* International Stadium, Rotorua, 7.10pm Saturday

Bay of Plenty

Adrian Cashmore, Filimone Bolavucu, Allan Bunting, Grant McQuoid, Anthony Tahana, Murray Williams, Kevin Senio, Colin Bourke, Nili Latu, Wayne Ormond (c), Bernie Upton, Mark Sorenson, Ben Castle, Aleki Lutui, Simms Davison

Lions

Josh Lewsey, Mark Cueto, Brian O'Driscoll (c), Gavin Henson, Tom Shanklin, Ronan O'Gara, Dwayne Peel, Lawrence Dallaglio, Martyn Williams, Richard Hill, Ben Kay, Paul O'Connell, Matt Stevens, Gordon Bulloch, Gethin Jenkins

Reserves:

Bay of Plenty: John Pareanga, Taufa'ao Filise, Paul Tupai, Warren Smith, Charles Hubbard, Robert Moon, Apoua Stewart.

Lions: Steve Thompson, Andy Sheridan, Donncha O'Callaghan, Martin Corry, Matt Dawson, Charlie Hodgson, Gordon D'Arcy.