RugbyPass Legends: Ali Williams on the 2007 Rugby World Cup, All Blacks Ethos and Richie McCaw
In the next instalment of our RugbyPass Legends series, Martin Devlin sits down for a two-part interview with 77-Test former All Blacks lock Ali Williams. In the exclusive interview, Williams discusses the ethos of the All Blacks, lessons learned from the shock 2007 World Cup defeat at the hands of France and the decision to stay in New Zealand for another World Cup run in 2011.
In part one of the Ali Williams interview, he revealed the feeling after crashing out of the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France during the quarterfinal stage.
That finish was the All Blacks' worst ever.
"It was tough," Williams said. "You lead up to it, you're still the most dominant team in the world. You're winning 85 or 90 percent in those four years leading up to that game."
"You look at the opposition. You always respect the fact that anyone can beat you on any given day but you don't expect to lose in a quarter final."
On referee Wayne Barnes' influence on the match - the English official famously missed a forward pass in the lead up to Yannick Jauzion's match-winning try - Williams admitted the players were at fault much more than the man in the middle.
"I think we feel that potentially things were taken out of our control a little bit, but then I think, in looking at it, we're responsible for 90 percent of it. The ref's got ten percent," he said.
Watch above to hear the rest of what Ali had to say about his time with the All Blacks, and keep an eye out for part two.
Catch the previous instalment of our Legends series here:
RugbyPass Legends - Alan Whetton
Latest Comments
Think it was a great defensive performance by Northampton. They didn't have stage fright in the first half, the Nienaber defense smothered them. They limited Leinster to 15-3 in the first half. It could have been over by then. A great try from Leinster in the start of the second half looked to have sealed it. But Byrne missed another conversion. Northampton started trying little kicks behind the Leinster wingers. Leinster messed one and Smith brilliantly made the conversion. Leinster decided to tighten the game after Byrne missed a straight forward penalty. A few errors got NH into the 22 and they scored and converted with a few minutes left. Another brilliant steal from Lawes saw NH have a final attack which was turned over by Conan. A classic semi final. World record attendance of 82,300. Leinsters 3 week preparation warranted for this one.
Go to commentsJust came back from the game and the atmosphere was amazing. Players stayed afterwards for more than a hour to sign stuff and take photos with fans. Great day out.
Go to comments