All Blacks superstar midfielder Williams has been earmarked to be the big name in the New Zealand Sevens side for the Rio Olympic Games in 2016, after he was handed a Sevens contract.
His presence in the Sevens set-up is eagerly awaited by rugby fans around the world. Williams is a popular figure in Cape Town, with supporters dubbed the “Cape Crusaders” even waiting patiently outside the team hotel to catch a glimpse of the big man when he has been to the Mother City with the Crusaders.
But Capetonians won’t get to see their favourite centre as NZ Sevens coach Gordon Tietjens has said that Williams is not yet ready to play in the shortened format of the game.
Williams was in Dubai last weekend to observe proceedings and was reportedly willing to play as the injury toll climbed for the Kiwis. It resulted in them losing their Cup semi-final to eventual champions Fiji, and they suffered a second defeat to the United States in the third-fourth place play-off after going down to the Americans in the pool stages as well.
But Tietjens told Planet Rugby: “He’s never played Sevens. I jokingly said to him that he might get to play earlier than we first thought. He said ‘Can I do that?’. We’ve got a tournament in South Africa in five days’ time and the bodies have taken a hammering.
“We’ve got a plan for him and we’ll stick to that. He’ll come in really conditioned to play sevens and train with us and then, when it’s time to get him out, we will.
“That applies to so many others too. Wellington or Sydney, they’ll come in because we’ll need them.”
Williams could feature in the Wellington Sevens tournament on January 30-31 next year.
New Zealand captain Scott Curry (shoulder), Gillies Kaka (ankle), Tim Mikkelson (concussion), Sherwin Stowers (arm) and Regan Ware (ankle) were injured in Dubai and ruled out of the Cape Town tournament.
Veteran DJ Forbes will take over from Curry to lead the New Zealand team again, with Max Pearson, Antonio Kirikiri, Beaudein Waaka and Ambrose Curtis also coming into the squad.
New Zealand Sevens Squad: Dylan Collier, Ambrose Curtis, Sam Dickson, DJ Forbes, Antonio Kirikiri, Declan O’Donnell, Max Pearson, Augustine Pulu, Teddy Stanaway, Isaac Te Tamaki, Beaudein Waaka, Joe Webber.
Source: African News Agency (ANA)
