The coach of New Zealand’s rugby sevens team says Sonny Bill Williams wants to play at the 2016 Olympics but first the All Blacks have to qualify for the Rio tournament.
Sir Gordon Tietjens says the dual international “ticks all the boxes” as a potential sevens player and has spoken to the 29-year-old’s manager, who has expressed a definite interest in playing at the inaugural rugby sevens Olympic event in 2016.
Williams has recently returned to New Zealand and rugby union after two seasons in the NRL with Sydney Roosters.
He made his first appearance off the bench this weekend for Counties-Manukau in New Zealand’s provincial championship as he begins a quest to play in the All Blacks’ World Cup defence in England next year.
Following that tournament, Tietjens says Williams will need to commit to sevens rugby if he’s to become an Olympian.
“I’ve spoken to his agent. He’s expressed a real interest that Sonny Bill is keen to look at the Olympics,” Tietjens said.
“Sonny Bill Williams ticks all the boxes. He’s a great, great athlete. Got everything. Can he play sevens? I don’t know.”
This year’s world rugby sevens series doubles as an Olympic qualifier with the top four nations at the series end earning an automatic berth at the Rio Games.
New Zealand’s bid to snatch one of those spots got off to a shaky start on Sunday, eliminated in the quarter-finals by England at the series opener on the Gold Coast.
Tietjens said the result, New Zealand’s worst in a rugby sevens tournament since the 2011-12 opener in Dubai, shows there’s no guarantee of the All Blacks securing one of the top four positions this year.
“People will probably take it for granted that New Zealand will qualify because we’ve done particularly well but I can tell every time we won a world series there’s been a lot of hard work go into it,” he said.
“It’s been fierce certainly in the last three or four years. Winning the last 12 series out of 15 means nothing now when it comes to Olympic qualification.”
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