Sonny Bill Williams. Photo / Getty Images
One day someone will write an authorised biography on SBW ... and it's going to be a grotesque piece of puffery. But Williams and his manager Khoder Nasser will be happy - and that's the main thing.
Williams arrived on New Zealand's 15-man scene with a crash, bang and offload
to die for. He seemed to scale a steep learning curve with ridiculous ease. There was nothing it seemed, aside from a left-foot drop kick from 50m, that Williams could not do on a footy field.
He was selected for the All Blacks 2010 end-of-year Northern Hemisphere tour and impressed to the point where it was felt he had edged ahead of Ma'a Nonu in the pecking order following a luminous display against the flowers of Scotland.
That remains the apogee of Williams' international career.
After a strong start to the Super 15 season, Williams' form tailed off at the same time he took on a heavy boxing training load. It is this dogged pursuit of his own interests that has alienated some fans and, truth be told, some teammates.
