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Brad Walter | June 8, 2009 - 8:42AM
After "thanking" Stirling Mortlock for the sore ribs he was left nursing at the end of Saturday night's Wallabies-Barbarians match, Sonny Bill Williams was told by the Australian captain: "That's the way the big boys do it."
"He seems like a good bloke and a very funny character," Williams said later. "But I'd love to come back here in a few years' time and show him how I do it."
In his first appearance in Australia since walking out on the Bulldogs to switch codes last July and just his 14th game as a rugby union player, Williams confirmed to himself that he could match it with the likes of Mortlock and other Wallabies stars but he also admitted that he still has a lot to learn.
Disappointed by the 55-7 scoreline, Williams could at least hold his head high afterwards in the knowledge that he was one of the best players in a Barbarians outfit that boasted 775 Test caps between them but had little incentive to match the intensity of an Australian team preparing for the coming Tri Nations against New Zealand and South Africa.
"After 10 months this is where I am at. I know I did some good things in the game and I did some bad things," Williams told the Herald.
"I know I am going to have my critics and they are going to come out and bag me but I know that there is definitely a lot of improvement in my game and hopefully in another 10 months you will see a different player."
While that may be a hint that he intends returning to Australia or New Zealand on a permanent basis when his new one-year deal with Toulon expires at the end of the next Top 14 season in France, not even Williams seems to know exactly what he will be doing then.
But what the 23-year-old does know is that if he was to come back to play Super rugby or at Test level, the step up would not be a problem.
"I'm not happy with the way I played but I can sit back with a smile knowing that I can mix it with these guys," Williams said. "Australia are definitely one of the best teams in the world and when you watch it on TV you think 'wow, that's quick', but I now know that if I did come back here I could handle it and I know what parts of my game I need to improve on."
Defence was one area Williams said he needed to work on but it was difficult in a Barbarians back line where players came from different teams that have their own systems and structures.
He is still making the transition from league although two stinging shoulder tackles suggested he had adapted his trademark tackling technique to comply with rugby union's ban on shoulder charges.
"If you're confident in defence you push up but ... I wasn't that confident. I held off a bit too much. It just comes from learning the game."
Williams almost scored a try with his first touch of the ball when he slipped past Mortlock in the third minute only to be cut down by Luke Burgess.
Williams received a few more rib-tickling tackles but there was little of the predicted animosity towards him from the 40,000 crowd.
After the game, Williams signed autographs as the players waited for the on-field presentation and he was then mobbed for photos as he left the ground.
"I knew there was a lot of pressure on me and I knew that a lot of people wanted to see me get pumped but that's cool," he said. "It was good to come back and play in front of my family and friends. It's not all doom and gloom like it has been made out.
"I really enjoyed my time in Sydney, I consider Sydney a second home so it was just good to be back."
http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/n...313065715.html
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Originally Posted by Working Class
