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SBW ready for Samu Kerevi freight train

New Zealand back Sonny Bill Williams. Photo / Getty Images

Sonny Bill Williams will have rampaging Wallabies opposite Samu Kerevi in his sights when he lines up for his 10th and probably final Bledisloe Cup Test for the All Blacks.

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Former NRL star Williams is uncontracted next year and continued to keep journalists guessing this week about his 2020 plans ahead of Saturday’s return match at Eden Park.

The 34-year-old’s focus is squarely on turning around New Zealand’s fortunes following their nightmare loss in Perth, which he sat out, while also making a last-ditch bid for World Cup selection.

“You’re always on trial and if you don’t think you are, then you’ll be slipping,” said Williams, who is fighting to attend his third world tournament.

“For myself, I need to be where my feet are and play my best footy because we’ve got four other world class midfielders in the team. They want the same thing.”

An injury-ravaged season has taken an upward turn with successive 80-minute provincial hitouts this month, leaving Williams confident he can slot into a midfield that will be missing injured outside centre Jack Goodhue.

One of Williams’ chief tasks will be shutting down Kerevi, whose prodigious Super Rugby form for the Queensland Reds continued into Australia’s three Rugby Championship Tests.

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Kerevi unfurled his usual numbers in Perth, running for 88 metres, making three clean breaks and beating five defenders, including a memorable bump-off on Beauden Barrett to set up Nic White’s try.

Williams’ strength in the latter part of his 52-Test career has been his defence and he said he’d be well prepared for the Kerevi freight train.

“Any team that plays a side that has a player like Samu in it (has to),” he said.

“Just the way he’s played all year, leading line breaks and tackle breaks throughout Super Rugby … he’s one that we have to watch out for this weekend.”

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– AAP

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Tom 7 hours ago
Will Bristol's daredevil 'Bears-ball' deliver the trophy they crave?

Also a Bristol fan and echo your sentiments.


I love watching Bristol but their approach will only get them so far I think. Exeter played like this when they first got promoted to the prem and had intermittent success, it wasn't until they wised up and played a more balanced game that they became a consistently top side.


I really want Bristol to continue playing this brand of rugby and I don't mind them running it from under their posts but I don't think they need to do it every single time. They need to be just a little bit more selective about when and where on the pitch they play. Every game they put themselves under so much needless pressure by turning the ball over under their posts trying to do kamikaze moves when it's not required. By all means run it from your goal line if there is a chance for a counter attack, we all want to see Bristol running in 100m tries from under their posts but I think until they learn when to do it and when to be pragmatic, they are unlikely to win the premiership.


Defense has been a real positive from Bristol, they've shown a lot of improvement there... And I will say that I think this kamikaze strategy they employ is a very good one for a struggling side and could be employed by Newcastle. It's seems to have turned around Gloucester's fortunes. The big advantage is even if you don't have the biggest and best players, what you have is cohesion. This is why Scotland keep battering England. England have better individuals but they look muddled as a team, trying to play a mixed strategy under coaches who lack charisma, the team has no identity. Scotland come out and give it full throttle from 1-15 even if they struggle against the top sides, sides like England and Wales who lack that identity drown under the relentless will and synergy of the Scots. If Newcastle did the same they could really surprise some people, I know the weather is bad up there but it hasn't bothered the Scots. Bristol can learn from Scotland too, Pat is on to something when he says the following but Scotland don't play test matches like headless chickens. They still play with the same level of clarity and ambition Bristol do but they are much better at picking their moments. They needed to go back to this mad game to get their cohesion back after a couple of seasons struggling but I hope they get a bit wiser from matches like Leinster and La Rochelle.


“If there’s clarity on what you’re trying to do as a team you can win anything.”

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