Sonny Bill Williams
Sonny Bill Williams has been given a May deadline to confirm his availability for New Zealand’s Sevens team that will compete at the Olympic Games next year.
Williams, who is currently preparing for another boxing bout, is one of several high-profile All Blacks on the wishlist of NZ Sevens coach Gordon Tietjens.
The others are brothers Julian and Ardie Savea, Liam Messam, Charles Piutau, Ben Smith, Hosea Gear and Victor Vito.
Of that group, only Williams has no previous Sevens experience.
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The New Zealand Rugby Union will unveil a provisional squad – which will feature an amalgamation of Sevens specialists, Super Rugby stars and All Blacks who have signalled interest – in late May.
A wider squad must also be submitted to the New Zealand Olympic Committee by 5 August – one year out from the games in Rio de Janeiro.
Up to 26 players will then be confirmed in the squad announced after the World Cup in October.
That squad will be whittled down to 12 players for the Olympics.
NZRU General Manager Rugby Neil Sorensen and player relationship manager Ben Castle, the former Chiefs prop, will canvas several of those players in the coming months.
“Ben and I are going around in the next couple of months to talk to players Titch may be interested in about how it might work in 2016 in terms of whether they can play any Super Rugby and how many sevens tournaments they’d have to play,” Sorensen said.
“It’s going to be personalised to a large extent.
“The Super Rugby teams need to know sooner than later so they can talk to other players. Knocking it off in May this year gives everyone certainty.
“You’re looking at a mix of specialist gurus, the experts who have played sevens for a few years, and a smattering of other players like Sonny Bill. I certainly don’t see it being eight All Blacks and four other guys. It won’t work like that.”
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New Zealand coach Gordon Tietjens ended speculation about Rugby League superstar Shaun Johnson joining Sony Bill Williams in an all-star Sevens team at the Olympic next year.
Johnson, winner of the Rugby League Golden Boot award for best player in the world, has been listed in the media as one of the players on the New Zealand Rugby Union wishlist for next year’s Games in Rio.
However, Tietjens said on Monday he can’t see the Auckland-based Warriors star, Johnson, lining up for New Zealand at the 2016 Olympics.
Tietjens said he would need Johnson to switch codes from Rugby League to Rugby Union, but there is no indication that it would happen in time.
“He would excel at the game of Sevens, no question about that,” Tietjens said.
“However, for him to have to be considered he would have to be playing Rugby Union and that’s really what it comes down to,” Tietjens added.
“I couldn’t go offshore and pick someone who’s not involved in rugby, I think that would be quite unfair.”
Any players who are keen to play Sevens at the Olympics need to commit to the cause by May this year.