New Zealand captain Tim Mikkelson has said it would be “awesome” to have Sonny Bill Williams in the All Blacks Sevens squad for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Speaking on Copacabana beach on Wednesday, Mikkelson said the two-time Rugby World Cup winner “can do stuff that no one in the team is able to do”.
Williams, one of the sport's best known players and a former New Zealand heavyweight boxing champion, started playing for the Kiwis' sevens team in January and, in characteristic style, scored a try with his first touch of the ball. Famous for giving his RWC 2015 winners' medal to a fan who was tackled by a security guard after invading the pitch, Williams hopes to be selected in coach Gordon Tietjens' 12-man squad in June.
Mikkelson, New Zealand's leading try-scorer on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series, was glowing in his praise for Williams.
“He's very powerful and he can do stuff that no one in the team is able to do,” said Mikkelson, who has been in Rio this week on a reconnaissance mission.
Fully-committed
“He has also shown that he can make very big tackles. He's grown the game of rugby worldwide and it would be awesome to have him in the squad.”
Williams stands a very good chance of making the team, according to Scott Curry, who captained the All Blacks Sevens before a dislocated shoulder in the opening round in Dubai saw the baton passed to Mikkelson.
“Sonny Bill brings a lot of exposure and publicity to rugby,” said Curry, who was in Rio this week with Mikkelson and coach Sir Gordon Tietjens.
“He has shown that he is fully committed to sevens, he's learning fast and he will go really close to making the squad.”
The return of rugby to the Olympic Games is fast shaping up to be one of Rio 2016's most eagerly anticipated events.
The biggest sporting stage
Curry, who is expected to regain the captaincy should he prove his fitness, said he expected a wide-open competition and a passionate crowd when the 12 men's teams go into battle for medals at the Deodoro Stadium from 9-11 August.
“As a rugby player I never dreamt I would have the chance to go to the Olympic Games,” he said. “I am pretty excited to be coming back in August and going for a gold medal.”
Mikkelson also showed his excitment at the prospect of becoming an Olympian: “It's huge to be in the Olympics. It's the biggest sporting stage in the world.”
Rugby, in the 15s format, was part of the 1900, 1908, 1920 and 1924 Olympic Games but sevens is renowned for exciting play, a carnival-like atmosphere in the stands and for giving smaller nations a chance to upset some of the sport’s superpowers.
Curry and Mikkelson visited Deodoro Olympic Park on Tuesday to look at the competition venue and the training pitches. Temporary stands, located close to the pitch, are now going up at the site, and Mikkelson said that having the crowd so close to the players should deliver a exciting atmosphere.
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In the closing event of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in London last weekend, the All Blacks Sevens were knocked out in the Cup quarter-finals by a scintillating display from the USA, a sign of the competitive of sevens in a season where Kenya and Scotland both won their first ever events.
"Fiji are probably favourites in Rio," Curry said. "It's a different position for us to be in as we are normally the favourites."
Other sides to watch out for at Rio 2016 will be South Africa, Australia and Great Britain with the other confirmed teams being Argentina, France, Kenya, Japan, USA and host nation Brazil. The 12th and final place will be filled by the winner of the repechage event, which involves 16 teams and takes place in Monaco on 18-19 June.
Sonny Bill Williams may not be the only member of his family in Rio for rugby sevens' debut in August as his younger sister Niall is aiming to win a place in the New Zealand team, which will be among the favourites to win the first sevens Olympic gold medal on 6-8 August.
The pool draw for the Olympic Games will take place at the end of June.
Photo credit: Rio 2016/Gabriel Nascimento