"There's one game that's a bit contentious about whether they are going to consider it or not," Hansen told Radio Sport's Martin Devlin last week, referring to the club game.
"If that's not the case then we'll get him back just for the test match. If it's considered then we'll get him back for the game of three halves that we play every year before the Mitre 10 and Bledisloe starts," said Hansen.
However, in their statement, World Rugby said that "Following due consideration, the disciplinary committee has ruled that Williams' suspension will extend up to and including 19 August. As such, he is free to play again from 20 August."
The judiciary who made the decision was Australian trio Adam Casselden, David Croft and John Langford. Croft played five tests for the Wallabies in 2002 and 2005 while Langford appeared in four tests in 1997.
The same trio cleared Lions loosie Sean O'Brien for the third test draw following a high shot on Waisake Naholo in the second test win at Westpac Stadium.
At the judiciary hearing, the All Blacks claimed that Williams would play in pre-season for Counties Manukau against North Harbour, and in an inter-squad match involving a Counties B side.
While the Judicial Committee accepted that the game against North Harbour was meaningful, they were not satisfied that the inter-squad game on August 5 was set to "be a meaningful match" and would not "have had a meaningful playing consequence" for Williams, saying it was effectively "an internal club trial".
They then also rejected the All Blacks' "Game of three halves" against Counties and Taranaki, as it did not meet the World Rugby definition of a match, due to the introduction of a completely new team after halftime.
"When viewed objectively, it is, in our opinion, a training match, or, as was referred to by [Williams'] counsel, a warm-up match," argued World Rugby.
Williams has 48 hours to appeal the decision.
Hansen will likely turn to Ryan Crotty and Anton Lienert-Brown as his starting midfield combination for the clash with Ngani Laumape and Jack Goodhue as back-up options. Malakai Fekitoa is another option having played in the third test against the Lions but recently announced he's leaving to play in Toulon at the end of the season.
How a four-week ban becomes a seven weeks off the field
Williams was given a four-week ban following his red card offence on July 1. However he isn't eligible to play until August 20. The World Rugby ruling stated "he received the suspension for four weeks, equating to four meaningful matches as considered by the judicial committee".
It will take seven weeks for Williams to miss four 'meaningful matches' - All Blacks v Lions (July 8), Blues v Sunwolves (July 15), Counties Manukau v North Harbour (July 29) and All Blacks v Australia (August 19).
If for example Kieran Read had been banned for four 'meaningful matches' at the same time as Williams he would be avaliable next week having missed a test match and three Super Rugby games.
