Chris Rattue: A little SBW revolution is a good thing

Sonny Bill Williams is leading a rugby revolution.

The former league star is a once-in-a-lifetime player - both on and off the field - and the New Zealand Rugby Union should get ready to empty its vaults if that is what it takes to keep him after next year's World Cup.

All doubts have been washed away, even though Williams is capable of so much more.

That's the beauty of this trip, because we ain't seen nothing yet.

It may be hard to totally match Williams' effect on rugby, but others can certainly follow the path and utilise league skills to beat defensive lines.

The irony is that Australia, the home of league excellence, is bucking the trend, yet the Wallabies keep getting bucked off a powerful horse.

International rugby has taken on fascinating new twists since the rules were tweaked to encourage players to pass or retain the ball instead of kicking it.

The test scene is reaching a new level, a powerful chess game of thrust and counter-thrust. Every team are being forced to try to get on board.

Williams is the right man at the right time to expand rugby thinking even further, not to mention raising the All Blacks' World Cup hopes to a higher place. The really encouraging part of the current revolution is it may be here to stay, that rugby's confusing continual rule changes are at an end.

Williams and others have shown that within the current rules lies the scope to make rugby a game worth watching.

At last, the entertainment gene is spreading. Another of rugby's Kiwi league recruits, Shontayne Hape, has opened up possibilities for England, although he is no Sonny Bill, and doesn't have the same class of players around him.

Count me out of any group of new believers who think England have turned a major corner after they trundled all over a half-hearted Wallaby effort at Twickenham.

A lot of England's ball handling was slow and messy in a still-marvellous game at dear new Twickers.

The Aussies were okay with ball in hand, but disgraceful in failing defensively to confront the grey-clad English juggernaut. Australia's defensive adjustments were bewilderingly bad. Mark Cueto, believe it or not, was allowed to run wild.

At best, you might say that England emerged from a century of rugby cave dwelling to play jogging rugby. Against feeble foes, at home, they scored just two tries and one of those - a thrilling long-range job - when Australia were down to 14 men.

What's the bet though that under pressure, and without genuine skill, England will revert to type and narrow their game.

When they are properly confronted at the kick-offs, tackle and breakdown, England's so-called running game falters and especially if the carthorse Mike Tindall remains in the No 13 jersey.

Getting Tindall to carry on a break is like asking Keith Richards to carry the temperance message, although unlike English rugby's attack, the Rolling Stone will never lose his bottle.

Still, England are on some sort of move, if only philosophically. The country whose press has continually told us that static rugby is real rugby has done an almighty u-turn.

A wider question now is how many countries have the players equipped for the new dawn.

League is a potential stopgap solution, to fill vital gaps.

For starters, every team will thrive with a big, powerful ball player, with others around him who have the speed and skill to run at the gaps he creates.

The colossal Sonny Bill Williams is exceptional, but he's not a total exception. He won deserved applause at Murrayfield, yet a few league training drills were all he needed to demolish the hapless Scots.

The All Blacks have stumbled upon a stunning footballer. Australia and others would be wise to follow suit.

Wallaby coach Robbie Deans is playing with fire, continuing to run a light backline. Over time - and time has proved this - Australia can't take the battering so they are unable to put together a sequence of good performances.

Quade Cooper, Matt Giteau, James O'Connor, Kurtley Beale ... you definitely want some of the above but not all, yet Deans persists.

O'Connor and Beale are musts for now, which leaves a decision between Cooper and Giteau.

Cooper is a defensive nightmare. His name may stand for a barrel maker, but opponents barrel through him.

England's first try came after the rampaging Nick Easter and Hape smashed over him.

Little Giteau, once the first five-eighths, is a blind spot in the Australian scheme. He doesn't fit the Sonny Bill model of a modern No 12, but the Wallabies are loath to drop him.

In hindsight, Australia might have missed a trick with the former Parramatta league utility Feleti Mateo, who has joined the Warriors.

If a rugby coach could get Mateo fit and firing, he could be as dangerous as Williams.

Mateo would make a sensational rugby inside centre.

There are other big ball players out there. Some star league players - resentful of the salary cap, tough and built for modern rugby union - are ripe for recruitment.

Furthermore, the rugby rule changes mean less need for tactical kickers, another factor which makes Williams and co perfect for rugby once they have been schooled in things such as the breakdown work.

Apart from the odd momentous win, Australian rugby is often a doormat. Yet one solution lies on its doorstep.