Sonny Bill Williams. Photo / Getty Images
No Sonny Bill Williams in the All Blacks team to play Australia on Saturday night and no signature on a contract - his NZRU paymasters could be a little nervous about the immediate plans of the high-profile player.
Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith are the midfield combination the selectors will go for to contest the big games in the World Cup and, with Williams not even named on the reserves bench to face Australia, the writing could be on the wall for SBW.
The All Blacks selectors have named close to their strongest 22 for the Suncorp Stadium showdown, with Isaia Toeava on the bench providing cover for midfield, wing and fullback.
Williams, a specialist midfielder only, is a free agent after the World Cup. He has stated he will stay for another year but hasn't signed a contract with the NZRU and it's unknown whether he will play for the Blues or Chiefs in next year's Super Rugby competition. He said last week he will declare his new franchise after the Tri Nations which will culminate in Saturday night's match in Brisbane.
The NZRU have said they are confident Williams will re-sign, and the smart money is on him doing that, but he doesn't have to commit before the World Cup and he is a flight risk afterwards if things don't go his way in the tournament.
Super Rugby squads have to be finalised by late October and the coaches of the Blues and Chiefs, Pat Lam and Dave Rennie respectively, will want confirmation well before then.
One sticking point has been a sponsorship issue. It is understood Williams has been approached to represent a rival drinks sponsor to Coca-Cola, a partner of the NZRU. Although the national body does not have the power to veto the sponsorship, it can object, and the matter could go to arbitration.
However, this standoff could play into the hands of Williams and manager Khoder Nasser because it allows them to see how he figures in the selectors' plans and that could make the national body jittery. Neither Williams or his manager take the idea of rejection well.
When Williams was left out of Canterbury's starting line-up to play Wellington in an ITM Cup match last year following a mixed performance against Taranaki, it took several hours of negotiating from coaches Rob Penney and Tabai Matson in front of several startled onlookers in a suburban cafe to calm the furious Nasser, who stated that "Sonny has never been dropped in his career''.
Williams will definitely get game time in the World Cup, but it's the big stage that he craves and he won't be satisfied with featuring only in the pool games.
He had a big chance to push his claims in the loss against the Springboks in Port Elizabeth last weekend. The fact he was playing outside a test novice in Colin Slade wouldn't have helped, but centre partner Richard Kahui, who scored the All Blacks' only points with a try, was a more consistent presence.
Williams was outstanding at times for the Crusaders in this year's Super Rugby competition. He cut the Sharks apart at Twickenham and was again hard to contain against the Stormers in his side's against-the-odds round-robin win in Cape Town, but his form dipped when he undertook a demanding boxing training schedule for his fight against Alipate Liava'a in June.
He has been less spectacular for the All Blacks since making his debut against England at Twickenham last year, although he was brilliant against Scotland at Murrayfield.
This year, apart from last weekend against the Boks in which he played 80 minutes, he started in the comfortable victory against South Africa in Wellington before being substituted and came on as a replacement in the win over the Wallabies in Auckland. In none of these three matches did he impress as an attacking weapon able to open up a defensive line operating under World Cup sudden-death pressure.
Although Williams has a big supporter in All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith, the NZRU will be reluctant to make too many more compromises for the player, who will insist on more flexibility to pursue his boxing career.