Williams: 'Enjoyment brings success'
Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:41
All Black lock Ali Williams believes that his philosophy of keeping things simple has helped him to improve his game and become his country's premier player in the No.5 jersey.
Williams has not only taken over from the retired Chris Jack as New Zealand's key man in the line-outs, but the expressive forward has also become one of the senior personalities in the All Black squad through his aggressive and energetic all-round game.
The big lock explained that he was the type of person who thrived on a task when he was enjoying it at the same time.
"I think the biggest thing for me, it's all about enjoyment, and also not overdoing things off the field," Williams told reporters from the All Blacks' team hotel in Cape Town.
"You can't dwell on your performances and rest on your laurels. You have to keep on striving to get better in the Tri-Nations, because you do come up against the best in the world.
"I think it's about doing my homework and doing the basics right.
"Also, I think it's about not going outside of my role. My role is pretty simple really - hit the rucks and mauls, win the line-outs, and push in the scrum, and when you can, you tackle.
"It's a pretty simple sort of a role, but when you try to overcomplicate it, that's when your head starts playing games, and makes you think you should be doing other things.
"That's when your confidence goes."
Williams and his lock partner Brad Thorn had a field day against the Wallabies two weeks ago in Auckland. Williams and Thorn were responsible for stealing no less than eight of the Aussie line-outs, contributing hugely to New Zealand's 39-10 victory to keep their hopes alive in the Tri-Nations.
The All Blacks will be hoping that their second row forwards can reproduce that form in this weekend's crunch match against the Springboks at Newlands, considering that the tournament odds will swing overwhelmingly the way of whoever wins the Cape Town encounter.
"It went well last week [in the win against Australia], but it's one of those things that can change very quickly from week to week," warned Williams.
"We just have to keep focusing on our basics - lifting, jumping, throwing.
"We all know that the Bok line-out is very successful, and a big part of trying to combat that making sure that we're switched on mentally, and that we've done our homework."
Saturday's clash will most likely see a huge battle between the two forward packs, and there will be plenty of interest to see how young Andries Bekker gets on against the seasoned All Blacks in the absence of veteran Bakkies Botha.
Botha has been ruled out of the rest of the tournament with a ruptured knee ligament, which prompted Bok coach Peter de Villiers to pick the 2.08m Bekker alongside Victor Matfield in the Bok second row.
Williams echoed the opinion of colleague Thorn, that the Boks would not lose any of their physical edge without Botha in the side, and he felt that Bekker would provide a whole new threat.
"It's important to adapt and move on," he stated. "The guys who have stepped in for me were great, and now Andries is going to step in for Bakkies. It's not going to make much difference I think.
"Obviously we all know what Bakkies brings. He [Bekker] will bring just as much to the game if not more.
"He'll be excited to play in his home Test, and he's a tower of strength in terms of his physical appearance and also his ability around the track.
"I rate him as a pretty special athlete, he just needs a bit more time, and once he gets that, they [the Boks] will have produced another world-class lock."
Williams was in the news for all the wrong reasons during the Super 14 last year, when he fell out with coach David Nucifora over disciplinary matters while playing for the Blues.
That fall-out prompted Williams to leave the franchise and team up with the Crusaders, a move which rejuvenated his form and entrenched his place in the All Black line-up.
Williams also picked up a Super 14 winners medal in what turned out to be former Crusaders coach Robbie Deans' final fling with the Christchurch-based outfit.
The 53-times capped lock is under no doubts that the fresh start at the Crusaders was the right move for him.
"I think it was just the different environment and a different challenge [that was good for me]," he mused.
"It was good to just play rugby, and not deal with the rubbish outside the game that I don't enjoy.
"I now have that balance in terms of enjoying myself and enjoying my team-mates, and my mates off the field.
"And if you enjoy something, you do it better."
By Phil Coetzer
