The backs were disappointing on attack last Sunday, Williams aside. Only the loose forwards excelled overall. World Cup build-ups are long and involved but that doesn't mean new influences and methods, even radical ones, aren't needed in the final stages.
Opponents will be more aware of Williams after he provided the two major breaks in the scruffy wrestle at Twickenham, where the All Blacks struggled against an England team whose attack was shelved on home turf after a promising beginning via the wonderful Jonny May try.
Still, a limited opponent got uncomfortably close.
The All Blacks have two major creative advantages in the heavy traffic of modern rugby - Kieran Read and Sonny Bill. They are big men with outstanding offloads that are impossible to stop on their day. But it was Williams' running that really impressed at Twickenham - Aaron Cruden released him on one charge and a fabulous line propelled Williams through the English defence on another. With a bit more rugby union time under the belt, both would probably have led to tries. Rather than Williams fitting in to the All Blacks, the All Blacks need to be more aware of how to use what he provides and when to back him up. It's also another reason his Chiefs coach Wayne Smith would be a major asset for the World Cup campaign. The All Blacks need to hit the refresh button - Williams and Smith are the men to provide it.
Williams runs smashing lines, sends other players away and hits like Jerome Kaino, who is the gold standard for crunching defence.
Some of SBW's behaviour annoys the hell out of some of us, but SBW the super-player is no myth. Twickenham was instant proof of that.
4 other things
Sign of the times
The confusing placement of an on-field advertisement contributed to one of referee Nigel Owens' stuff-ups at Twickenham. Advertisements should never have been allowed on rugby and league fields. We are all under siege from the advertising industry, which is getting smarter about targeting our wallets. I clicked on an Australian newspaper website this week, and there in the top right corner - looking like a standard part of the newspaper - was an advert for an item I had been searching for the previous day. Yes, it's the way of the world but sports surfaces should remain a rare sanctuary, left free to display the game in the best way possible. Ads on fields are distracting and tacky. Many sports have managed to avoid this intrusion, but unfortunately a few haven't. They need to reconsider.
The shadow
Still have trouble getting used to the sight of Dan Carter as a waterboy. Using the finest No10 ever as a relay station is like finding Meryl Streep selling the icecreams at a theatre. If his presence is meant to help Aaron Cruden fill his boots somehow, then it didn't work. Watching Carter flitting about while Cruden fluffed his lines also made it impossible to forget that the Chiefs No10 plays tests in a giant shadow.
Tom on top
How weird - a New Zealand cricket scoreboard where the biggest number belongs to an opener. So well done Tom Latham, on the maiden test century against Pakistan. But that is nothing compared with the odd atmosphere presented by Pakistan's new home in the UAE. The place has all the buzz of a lunar landscape. Mind you, the atmosphere at our test grounds is hardly better.
Great turner
Attacking midfielder Roly Bonevacia, a former Ajax and Netherlands youth player, is a fabulous find by Wellington Phoenix coach Ernie Merrick. He has a great turn, and caused Asian champs Western Sydney no end of problems in their A-league clash. Whereas Paul Ifill, the former Phoenix playmaker, operated from wide positions, Bonevacia does the damage in the middle of the field.
