Rugby: Former All Blacks coach Steve Hansen labels Sonny Bill Williams the best athlete he ever coached

Steve Hansen has revealed the best athlete he has trained in his illustrious rugby career spanning 24 years.

The former All Blacks coach had many options with players he mentored as an assistant from 2004 to 2011 and as head coach from 2012 to 2019, with players like Richie McCaw, Dan Carter, Kieran Read and Keven Mealamu, among many. others. enjoying stellar races under his command.

But talking to The Daily Telegraph In Australia, Hansen called former All Black now Sydney Rooster Sonny Bill Williams “a phenomenon” and “the best athlete I have ever trained.”

“The best rugby player I’ve ever trained was (Richie) McCaw, but Sonny would be the best athlete I’ve ever trained from a pure sense of athlete,” Hansen said. “It is a phenomenon of nature.”

Hansen mentored Williams on the All Blacks in two separate stints between 2011 and 2019. He resigned after last year’s World Cup, in which Williams participated, with 93 wins in 107 events, a win rate of 87 percent, the best by any rugby coach with at least 15 games under his belt.

He also described Williams as a “role model.”

“Sonny is 35 now, but he’s been an active athlete for a long time and he really takes care of himself. He’s a monster of nature,” Hansen said.

“There’s no reason, as long as he’s injury-free, he shouldn’t do the job. He’d been out of the league for a while before coming back and going to Toronto, but he’s a good athlete.

“As he has grown, he has matured. His training habits and his off-the-field habits are world class now. He will be a good role model for the young ‘boys’ at the club.”

Williams was part of New Zealand’s World Cup victories in 2011 and 2015, coming off the bench in both finals. Against Australia in the decider in 2015, he made a pivotal play – unloading a wild Ma’a Nonu who beat a handful of defenders to score, giving New Zealand a comfortable 18-point lead early in the second. half.

Hansen said that pass was a perfect example of why Williams is so impressive.

“That’s the kind of thing you can do, right? You can do things that other people can’t.”

Williams’ unique combination of strength and skill has made him one of the greatest, if not the greatest, code-hunting rugby players, with titles at NRL and world rugby alongside riveting performances.

“There are a lot of similarities (between the rugby league and the union). You have that rushing defense and a shorter offside line than ours, so you can learn things from that,” Hansen said.

“They are two different games, but the fundamentals are the same.”

Williams has 118 NRL games under his belt and 24 tryouts with the Kiwis, as well as 58 test matches with the All Blacks. During his time with the Crusaders, Chiefs and Blues in Super Rugby, he won 61 international matches.

Hansen said he is keeping an eye on the NRL and will watch Williams’ return with great interest. Tomorrow night will mark the 35-year-old’s first game in the competition in six years, where he will come off the bench in the Roosters’ grand final rematch against the Raiders in Canberra.

Meanwhile, Hansen said that with no All Blacks games on the field yet, he doesn’t feel any sense of loss for having walked away from training. A Bledisloe series and a Rugby Championship between the respective Sanzaar unions have been discussed for 2020, but nothing has been finalized.

But Hansen hopes that if there is an All Blacks game soon, he will be sorry.

“I’m sure there will be a tug on the old heart when they finally hit the track. But Fossie [Ian Foster] He will do a great job with them, I am sure, and I am very excited that he will take the team to the next level.

“It will be exciting to watch.”