I’m a lock, Williams declares

Ali Williams

Saturday's rugby clash with the Barbarians means different things to different All Blacks players.

To lock Ali Williams it is all about shedding his tag as player happier roaming in open spaces than one willing to play the tight game the All Blacks selectors seek of their test locks.

When naming his touring squad a month ago, coach Graham Henry said Williams was being picked on the potential he had, rather than ability. Unimpressed with Williams' propensity for the flashy ahead of hard graft, the leading locks in Henry's mind were clearly Chris Jack and two men fighting constant battles with injury, Keith Robinson and Norm Maxwell.

Williams and Jack were the first-choice pair last year.

Aucklander Williams played in his 20th test and third on this tour when he came off the reserve bench to replace Maxwell in the win over France last Saturday yet he believed he still had plenty to prove, starting with Saturday's match at Twickenham.

"I just want to do my job, I want to be a lock," he said after training today.

"I've had a bit too long of running around and doing a bit of the loose stuff. Jacko, he's good at it.

"I need to get better at the tight stuff and that's a real focus for me, doing that grunt locking work."

The same composure in a carnival-like atmosphere would be needed among some of his youthful teammates on Saturday, Williams added.

He hoped to set the tone for the likes of halfback Jimmy Cowan and No 8 Steven Bates, both making their first All Blacks start, and debut flanker Jerome Kaino.

"There are a lot of new faces there. The boys have been in the lurch for three weeks, really busting to have an opportunity," he said.

"We've got to composure and do things right, not get too excited. That's a big work-on for us this week."

The Barbarians fixture is traditionally an open, loose affair but Williams said his concentration on core tasks would be helped by having former All Blacks captain Reuben Thorne as his locking partner.

Thorne, who joined the tour belatedly as a replacement for injured lock Jono Gibbes, said he had noted an extra emphasis on forward play under Henry than was the case under former coach John Mitchell.

He took a moment to reflect on the quirky nature of professional rugby.

If Gibbes had not been injured, he would have been playing this match for the Barbarians. That would have meant coming to grips with playing against the country he had captained over the previous two years.

"It was a strange thing to contemplate. I wasn't sure what it was going to be like when it actually came to the crunch," Thorne said.

"I'd got myself mentally prepared for it and I was quite looking forward to it when I got the call (to replace Gibbes). I had to drop everything and change around pretty quickly."

When contacted, Thorne was three days away from leaving for Europe anyway, to lead a supporters tour group following the three All Blacks' tests.

He said his withdrawal from that commitment created no problems as it was a contingency they had always planned for.

His place was filled by former All Blacks halfback Graeme Bachop.

- NZPA