Rugby: SBW show rolls in, and out again

Sonny Bill Williams scored a 40m try. Photo / Getty Images

As an introduction to New Zealand rugby, Sonny Bill Williams could hardly have asked for less.

He got mud, the unmistakeable waft of a sausage sizzle, $1 drinks of the most extraordinary colours and 15 blokes in the opposition hoping to take his head off and make a name for themselves.

There were about 4000 people at Sheldon Park in the Christchurch suburb of Belfast to see what Williams was all about.

They only got 45 minutes of the big man, but that was enough. The man can play and there is no question he is a stunning specimen.

Nursing a tight hamstring, he bid farewell after his 40-metre run to score what proved to be the critical try in his club's 22-7 win against Lincoln University. He was a long time getting off the turf after hacking through, picking up on the hoof and cantering the final 30.

"The lungs were burning," he said. "But the body felt good. The hamstring pulled up a little bit tight. It was good to knock out 40-50 minutes. Grassroots football, that is what it is all about."

It was nice of him to say grassroots is what it is all about, but it's not really in his case. The question everyone will be asking in these next few weeks is whether he has what it takes to upgrade the yellow and green of Belfast, to the red and black of Canterbury then drop the red and wear just black.

On yesterday's evidence, it was easy to see why the All Black coaches are so excited by what they have in Williams.

He never died with the ball. His offloading was incessant - those giant arms freeing themselves with ease.

His first pass was an outrageous flick out the back of his hand, which he managed four more times.

His general distribution was more than impressive, too.

He threw two superb long passes off his left hand that were right on target and maybe the best thing of all was that he gets his hands out early to receive the ball.

He didn't quite manage to line up any big hits, something he felt was down to him rushing out of the line on a couple of occasions.

The fine tuning will begin this week when he will almost certainly be named in the Canterbury 22.

For his chums at Belfast, they will have to get used to life without him again.

They got a stark reminder of that when the 4000 crowd reduced to about 400 after Williams departed.