Rugby: There's no queue-jumping for Sonny Bill

Sonny Bill Williams showcased his skills on his Counties debut. Photo / Getty

Sonny Bill Williams has returned to New Zealand rugby and there's no reason why he can't pick up where he left off but he has a few obstacles in his way when it comes to the All Blacks.

They go by the names of Ma'a Nonu, Malakai Fekitoa and Ryan Crotty.

New Zealand rugby is blessed with tremendous depth at the moment and Sonny Bill has to prove in the next few weeks he is better than Fekitoa and Crotty.

The injury to Nonu has probably made things easier in terms of immediate selections but, at the moment, I see Williams as back-up to both Fekitoa and Conrad Smith in the midfield.

Fekitoa deserves to keep his spot as starting second-five in the absence of Nonu and who knows how good he can become?

A few years ago, Warwick Taylor set a new record for consecutive games at second five-eighths before he picked up a hamstring injury. John Schuster came in to replace him and broke Taylor's record before a guy called Walter Little came along - and he played a fair few games, too.

It was a different era, when players had to be broken to come off, but what this proves is Sonny Bill has to get past Fekitoa first before he can unseat Nonu as a starting player. Why would you replace Fekitoa? He has been playing perfectly.

I don't have a problem with Williams going on the end-of-year tour but I'm pleased to see that he won't be taken to Brisbane for next weekend's test against Australia. It's still too early and he will benefit more from increased game time with Counties Manukau.

He showed in a few minutes on the pitch the other night glimpses of what he can do. For someone who was used to holding the ball in the tackle, he set the ball up to be recycled well and also put in a nice chip kick. The thing he needs most of all is game time.

There's no reason why he can't demonstrate the sort of flair he did when he left rugby a couple of years ago, and opposition teams will be wary of his ability to offload, but the game has also changed since he first played rugby.

When he started, few could offload in the way he does but now there are two or three in each team and Tim Nanai-Williams showed that in the Counties game the other night. He's no longer unique.

Sonny Bill seems more mature as a player and person and seems to know the game better. It's the way he goes about his business which is impressive, given the fascination in him.

The same can't be said for the likes of James O'Connor and Kurtley Beale. They are both gifted athletes but could learn a lot from Sonny Bill about how to conduct themselves on and off the field.

I'm interested to see what unfolds in the latest Beale episode. There's no doubt he's acted inappropriately and got himself into strife with his texts and images but there's something not quite right about this story. We haven't heard his version of events and, in my experience, it normally takes two to tango.

It's interesting that issues are still surfacing in Australian rugby. There were many pro-Australians who blamed Robbie Deans for the problems over there but they haven't disappeared under Ewen McKenzie.

Typically, the teams who behave themselves are the best teams. Look at Buller. They're not the most talented side but play as one and have each other's backs.

The world is a different place to when I played. One of the biggest differences was that we didn't have smartphones capable of taking images - actually cellphones were more like bricks then - and young fellas come under many different influences.

But the key thing remains: one or two individuals can bugger it up for everyone else. Thankfully, the All Blacks are better than most at keeping a lid on that.