KEY POINTS:
As he spent weeks this year on a liquid diet, All Black lock Ali Williams built his mental strength for the World Cup.
The downside of not playing, after he broke his jaw in a collision with French No 8 Sebastien Chabal, was balanced by the advantage of sorting his life and game face for the rest of the season.
Williams has been through a turbulent season, sent home from the Blues campaign in South Africa, breaking his jaw and then switching provincial allegiance to Tasman.
He is depicted as someone with vast potential whose character too often impacts on his sporting yield. Those issues have even surfaced during his 42-test career with the All Blacks.
Coach Graham Henry has always backed Williams and even after his Blues' expulsion, the 26-year-old lock was always going to be in the World Cup frame - especially with other contenders Jason Eaton and James Ryan invalided for the season and Keith Robinson battling a run of injuries.
When Williams broke his jaw in early June, the compulsory layoff forced him to evaluate his attitude.
So it was a subdued Williams who yesterday revealed the benefits of his down time. From the adversity, he knew he was ready to deal with the World Cup.
He had to step up to the plate as others had for him at the 2003 tournament as he recovered from a stress fracture in his foot.
Williams motioned to a room full of world media to explain how life closed in once the tournament began. His weeks of sipping milkshakes, soup and other fluids gave him another perspective as he lost 9kg.
"You realise more when you are on the outskirts and you think, shivers, you are very fortunate," he said.
"I don't think I needed it but for other phases of my life it was very important, but it was just another case of from the bad comes the good. Personally I think it was good.
"People know me more because I am the broken jaw guy but I would rather be known as a great rugby player than the broken jaw guy."
Like any return after injury, Williams said he needed to get through a few games to know he had physically recovered. His jaw felt a bit different after it was broken in several places but he had suffered no lasting effects.
He had spent a great deal of time thinking about his aims and aspirations.
"It did a lot of things. Inside me it did a lot of things for the better. I think the respect I got for the black jersey, the respect I got for life and the respect you need for the current position we are in.
"You know it is our time, it is our turn, so enjoy it because it is not going to last forever. I did a lot of mental work and it is easy to see something when you step back and you are out it than it is when you are in here," he said, indicating the World Cup atmosphere.
Williams felt he was in the best shape of his career and had never felt so excited about a rugby challenge.
He was unconcerned if he, Chris Jack and Reuben Thorne had to take up some of the slack while Robinson recovered from his calf strain.
"There is no extra pressure, it is just the same really. It does not faze me one bit to be honest. The more time on the field the better, I think," he said.
"If you look back to 2003 I was in the same position [as Robinson]. I am returning the favour, if you want to put it that way."
Italy would present a stern challenge for the All Black pack, they would have to be very tight in the setpiece and accurate at the breakdowns to subdue the vigorous Italian side.
The lineouts had gone well in training. There would always be a lot of heat on the All Blacks in that area but they were confident their repetition training would have them ready for Sunday in Marseille.
