Super SBW says best is yet to come
All Black sensation Sonny Bill Williams believes he's still "a work in progress" despite playing a starring role in New Zealand's 49-3 rout of Scotland at Murrayfield.
New Zealand scored seven tries in a complete domination of the hapless Scots, with several created by the former NRL star's brilliant offloading ability.
In an era where much of the talk in both codes of rugby has been about players' physical prowess - and at 1.91m and 108kg Williams's vital statistics are impressive - the centre's display was a reminder there is still a place for a centre who knows how to time a pass.
Such was the commanding nature of Williams's display, and the way his team-mates were on the same wavelength, it was easy to forget that Saturday's match was only his second Test in rugby union.
But he has now played a major role in helping New Zealand be halfway to what would be a third 'grand slam' in five years following their 2005 and 2008 clean sweeps, with Ireland looking to stem the All Black tide in Dublin this coming weekend ahead of the tour finale against Wales.
Not that the 25-year-old Williams was getting carried away.
"There's still things I need to address and work on, but I've always said I'm a work in progress," Williams insisted.
"I've got to keep on working and continue to improve.
"It was a good game because the team played terrifically.
"As a whole our forwards led the way and made it a lot easier for us to get that quick ball and get a roll on."
And Williams was the first to pay tribute to the quality of New Zealand's support play, long a feature of the Tri-Nations champions' game.
"You're only as good as your support play and you probably can't get much better than the boys that I played alongside in the last couple of weeks," he said.
Williams's debut came in the 25-16 win over England at Twickenham and he kept his place in Edinburgh as Ma'a Nonu made way for Conrad Smith.
New Zealand coach Graham Henry now finds himself in the enviable position of having three players available for two midfield spots and Williams added it was by no means certain he would start against Ireland.
"Ma'a and Conrad to me are the best midfield combination in the world," Williams said.
"As long as I can keep my foot in there and hopefully keep staying in that 22 and get a bit of game time here and there, I know I'll improve.
"It was a step forward - now I know I can mix it at this level - but in saying that there's still big games ahead and there's a long way to go."
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