Rugby: Sonny Bill's boxing did no harm - doctors

Sonny Bill Williams. Photo / Getty Images

Sonny Bill Williams' controversial boxing bout in Australia last week has done him no harm in his preparation for the upcoming Super 15 and international rugby season, according to All Blacks and Crusaders medical staff.

All Blacks doctor Deb Robinson and her Crusaders counterpart, Martin Swan, met with Williams on his return to Christchurch on Sunday and their initial review was extremely heartening, Robinson said today.

"He had a re-x-ray and the x-ray looks really good," she said.

The All Black midfielder has a stress fracture of the left fibula bone, which was diagnosed towards the end of the All Blacks tour of the United Kingdom late last year.

"He's had lots of bone healing, there's certainly no concerns about it, there's no new injury and he's come through the last month well," she said.

Williams, who won a unanimous points decision over Scott Lewis on the Gold Coast on Saturday night, was criticised over his decision to take the bout while injured.

But Robinson even went as far as saying that boxing is good preparation and that most other players indulge in this form of preparation, albeit not a full professional bout.

"He's been boxing-fighting and we are going to get him back into rugby training," she said, indicating that he will begin running with the Crusaders immediately. "But it will take two or three sessions of running to see how he's going.

"We're a bit reluctant to commit ourselves to say he'll be ready for round one (of the Super 15) but he maybe," she said optimistically.

Robinson said a fibula stress fracture related "to the mechanics of running" and added that "boxing training was actually the right sort of load".

"He was great. He followed our instructions really well and had no problems at all through that month," she said.

Robinson praised Williams' attitude to training: "I don't think you could fault the guy - he does everything you ask of him and he works very, very hard."

Because Williams' decision to fight in the pre-season was unique in New Zealand rugby, Robinson was unable to say if his boxing preparation had hindered his recovery from injury. However, she and Swan have assessed that Williams is not worse off because of the fight.

Robinson said Williams will start "walk-jogging" and then build-up to full pace.

"Running at pace and changing direction provide more of a risk," Swan said of the decision to build up his running in stages. He added that Williams is in very good shape "from a cardiac point of view".

"Everything from our point of view seems very positive," Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder said. "We'll just wait and see."

Blackadder said a decision on Williams' availability will be made in the week preceding the first match against the Blues on February 19, in Auckland.

- NZPA