Williams passes initiation

It's not quite a case of Glen Who? but Murray Williams gave off all the right signs that Bay of Plenty won't have too many concerns at No 10 in this year's NPC.

Williams shifted south from Auckland last year, having had one game last season then being unable to see a way past older rivals for the first five-eighths spot.

Glen Jackson, one of the heroes of Bay of Plenty's Ranfurly Shield/NPC semifinal campaign, headed for England and on Saturday night a composed Williams scored 15 points as the Bay rattled the Lions' cage for a lengthy period before losing 34-20.

"I was pretty happy with the way things turned out, but I don't want it to stop there," Williams said last night.

"I want to continue and improve my game before the NPC starts throughout the club season. I don't want to have a great one-off game then go into the wilderness. Hopefully I can press forward."

And perhaps join the lengthy list of players who have slipped through Auckland's fingers?

"I'm hoping that's the case," he quipped.

Williams, a national under-19 representative and a Blues and Auckland development squad member for the past two years, is keen to be part of a resurgent Bay team.

Their coach, Vern Cotter, fresh from his success as assistant coach with Super 12 champions the Crusaders, is driven to achieve more with his own region.

Williams kicked four from four attempts on Saturday night and scored a clever short-side try to pull the Bay level at 17-all five minutes before halftime before the Lions sorted their game out in the second half and eased clear.

"The speed of the game was huge. It was a big step up," Williams said.

But as an initiation into the big time, Williams passed with flying colours.