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Sonny Bill Williams out with knee injury, putting his World Cup chances in jeopardy

Sonny Bill Williams with his Blues teammates. (Photo by Daniel Jayo/Getty Images)

Sonny Bill Williams will undergo knee surgery which has the potential to harm his chances of a third successive World Cup with the All Blacks.

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The veteran midfield back is forecast to be sidelined for at least six weeks after an operation was scheduled for Friday to tidy up cartilage damaged in the Blues’ win over the Stormers two weeks ago.

Williams, 33, suffered the damage while setting up a try, having come off the bench at Eden Park.

He missed Saturday’s win over the NSW Waratahs and will play only a small part at best for the remainder of the Super Rugby season.

The injury-prone Williams has started twice this season and come off the bench three times.

He also missed a match to be in Christchurch to help the Muslim community in the wake of the March 15 mosque shootings.

It was a similar story last year when Williams played just five times for the Blues.

He went on to add five Tests to his total tally of 51.

While Williams is hig hly-rated by All Blacks coach Steve Hansen, the cross-code star’s Test chances aren’t helped by the depth on offer at inside centre.

Ryan Crotty, Ngani Laumape and Anton Lienert-Brown are all proven Test performers in that position.

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Ma’a Nonu has shown signs of unearthing his best form on return to the Blues although, unlike the others, the veteran wasn’t named in Hansen’s initial squad named to gather next week to begin preparations for the Test season.

Blues coach Leon MacDonald described the arthroscopic surgery for Williams as minor but a “big blow” to his team.

He predicts Williams will bounce back quickly once fit to return.

“Whatever he puts his mind to, he makes happen,” he said.

“This year he really wants to make the World Cup squad and be a part of that obviously, so he’s driven to recover well from this injury and get back on the field.”

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Nickers 17 minutes ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I thought we made a lot of progress against that type of defence by the WC last year. Lots of direct running and punching holes rather than using width. Against that type of defence I think you have to be looking to kick on first phase when you have front foot ball which we did relatively successfully. We are playing a lot of rugby behind the gain line at the moment. They are looking for those little interchanges for soft shoulders and fast ball or off loads but it regularly turns into them battering away with slow ball and going backwards, then putting in a very rushed kick under huge pressure.


JB brought that dimension when he first moved into 12 a couple of years ago but he's definitely not been at his best this year. I don't know if it is because he is being asked to play a narrow role, or carrying a niggle or two, but he does not look confident to me. He had that clean break on the weekend and stood there like he was a prop who found himself in open space and didn't know what to do with the ball. He is still a good first phase ball carrier though, they use him a lot off the line out to set up fast clean ball, but I don't think anyone is particularly clear on what they are supposed to do at that point. He was used really successfully as a second playmaker last year but I don't think he's been at that role once this year. He is a triple threat player but playing a very 1 dimensional role at the moment. He and Reiko have been absolutely rock solid on defence which is why I don't think there will be too much experimentation or changes there.

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