Sonny Bill Williams is set to bring up his 50th test match when the All Blacks take on the Wallabies in Tokyo this weekend
By Gregor Paul in Tokyo
Coming into the All Blacks in 2010, Sonny Bill Williams couldn't see himself playing 50 tests.
Back then he was a league player giving rugby a try. He'd grown up with league, playing it and loving it, winning an NRL title and representing his country to become one of the biggest stars of the code.
His rugby experience was a couple of seasons with Toulon in France and a provincial campaign with Canterbury.
He knew that he was picked back then more on the potential he had rather than anything he had delivered.
It was an awkward time for him. He wanted to keep his head down, learn his craft and the respect of his peers, yet this media circus followed his every move.
It didn't necessarily endear him to some of the senior players at that time and it wasn't that big a surprise that he chose to head back to league in 2013.
But since his return to rugby in 2014, Williams has been a different man and a different player.
He's found comfort in who he is and that, as much as anything else, has seen him become a trusted and vastly respected member of the All Blacks leadership group.
That and the fact he's become an excellent rugby player who will win his 50th cap in Yokohama.
"It [paying 50 tests] ended up being a goal but at the start I don't think it was realistic," he said.
"I didn't think it was a possibility when I first started. When I first started playing rugby and I have said this before, I didn't have that connection with it because I grew up as a league player.
"Over the years that developed and being in this environment really helped that and once I had that connection I knew that anything was possible. It only took me 10 years to get here. I am an old fella now."
More accurately, he's an older fella rather than old and it's that experience which both he and the coaches are buying into.
It has been a frustrating year for Williams with injury having reduced his test appearances to three while the Blues barely saw him at all.
He hasn't had the game time to build his form and confidence, but having been a professional player for as long as he has, Williams has the maturity and strength to trust himself to contribute.
The coaches know he's an athlete with the ability and mental strength to come through a tough test on limited rugby.
"My feet are firmly on the ground and I know I have to make every day a winner," he says.
"I haven't had many minutes playing rugby this year but that's what I need.
'I have confidence in my ability that once I get those minutes I'll be world class, I don't have any doubts there.
"I guess a little bit of wisdom does come with age but you have to go through those calamities and struggles and I am no different. When you do go through those things you can fall back on those things that work. I like to say your reality starts with your mindset."
