Olympics: Rio bid 'scares' Sonny Bill Williams

Sonny Bill Williams will make a move to Sevens next year. Photo / Getty Images

Sevens start presents 'an amazing opportunity', says Williams.

Sonny Bill Williams will take another step into the unknown when he attempts to win an Olympic sevens gold medal at Rio de Janeiro next year, an opportunity he says could be the biggest challenge of his career.

The All Blacks midfielder, who will concentrate fulltime on sevens next year which will rule him out of the Chiefs season, said attempting to adapt to sevens, a game he had never played before, would be "scary".

However, after making a reasonably smooth transition from league to rugby and back several times, plus his experiences in the ring as a boxer, Williams and national coach Gordon Tietjens will be quietly confident he will be a success.

Asked why he wanted to change to sevens, Williams said: "It's simple. The Olympics. Going back in time, the best sportsmen ever have been Olympians. [Usain] Bolt, [Muhammad] Ali, the list goes on. It's just an amazing opportunity to become one of those.

"As a rugby player you strive to be an All Black, win a World Cup and win a Super Rugby title. As a league player, for myself, you strive to win a comp. I'm lucky enough to have achieved that ... but most sportspeople would love to go to the Olympics and I haven't achieved that.

"I'm not too sure," he said when asked how he would go in the shortened version of the game. "It's going to be a massive challenge, probably the biggest of my career. I'm going to give it my all and time will tell.

"Titch explained all the training regimes I have to become accustomed to. I don't know if I'm going to be any good at sevens. That's why it's pretty scary. I'm sure as hell going to try my hardest ... all I can do is try my best and it's going to be an honour if I put on that sevens jersey because there have been some great players who have played and are still playing in the team."

Williams, 25, a handful for opposition defences in the 15-player game, has the potential to be devastating in the world series and Olympics next year with his power and offloading skills. He is a near certainty to be selected for the All Blacks' World Cup squad at the end of the month, but once that is over he will have a break and quickly change focus.

The more aerobic style of the game and training sessions are likely to have an effect on his body shape, which he acknowledged.

"Your body is a funny thing, it seems to adapt to different types of training. You just have to do it often and next year with sevens training hopefully my body will adapt."

Williams' Chiefs teammate Liam Messam has also been selected in the sevens squad, as has Hurricane Ardie Savea - but both of the loose forwards will also be available for some Super Rugby matches.

Williams, who doesn't know what position he will play or which tournaments he would play in, said: "The other players have had sevens experience, but I've had nothing. I think going into such a big campaign for me to put my best foot forward I know that [playing fulltime] is the only way."

NZ Sevens squad

Dylan Collier (Waikato)

Scott Curry (Bay of Plenty, capt)

Sam Dickson (Canterbury)

DJ Forbes (Counties Manukau)

Gillies Kaka (Hawkes Bay)

Akira Ioane (Auckland)

Rieko Ioane (Auckland)

Ben Lam (Auckland)

Liam Messam (Waikato)

Tim Mikkelson (Waikato)

Ardie Savea (Wellington)

Sherwin Stowers (Counties Manukau)

Sam Vaka (Counties Manukau)

Beaudein Waaka (Taranaki)

Joe Webber (Waikato)

Sonny Bill Williams (Counties Manukau)

Sevens series

Dubai: Dec 4-5, 2015

Cape Town: Dec 12-13

Wellington: Jan 30-31, 2016

Sydney: Feb 6-7

Las Vegas: Mar 4-6

Vancouver: March 12-13

Hong Kong: April 8-10

Singapore: April 16-17

Paris: May 14-15

London: May 21-22

Rio de Janeiro Olympics: Aug 6-11