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Meet rugby's new fastest man - his nickname is 'Quadzilla'
By Josh Raisey
Australia Sevens have been dealt a major boost heading into next season, and the Olympics, with former sprinter Trae Williams signing a two-year contract with them.
The 22-year-old, known as ‘Quadzilla’, holds the fourth best time for an Australian in the 100m, but has announced that he is moving on from athletics, to rugby.
“I’ve always loved the sport and when the opportunity came across to play sevens for Australia and even possibly the Olympics next year it was a bit hard to say no to that,” Williams told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“They came to me after nationals and offered me to come along and pass the ball around and see how things went. I then went down to Sydney and did some skills work with [coach] Tim Walsh. They were pretty happy with what I could do and it went from there.”
With a personal best time of 10.10, set at the Australian Athletics Championships in 2018, this will make Williams the fastest man in the World Rugby Sevens Series (this excludes Jamaican Olympian Warren Weir, who played sevens for his country).
This time puts Williams ahead of USA speedster Carlin Isles, who has long been regarded as the fastest man in rugby. The American has clocked 10.13 in the 100m, falling just short of Williams.
The success that Isles has had in the sport should be encouraging to Williams, who grew up playing rugby, and should fill Australia fans with a lot of hope heading into the Olympics in Tokyo next year.
“I’ll try and burn them [opposition defenders] on the outside. I’m sure the coaches and boys are going to help me with anything I can’t do perfectly.”
This is Williams running his record time:
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Set pieces are important and the way teams use them is a great indication of how they play the game. No team is showcasing their revolution more than the Springboks. This year they have mauled less and primarily in the attacking third. Otherwise they have tended to set like they are going to maul and then play around the corner or shove the ball out the back. They arent also hitting the crash ball carrier constantly but instead they are choosing to use their width or a big carrying forward in wider areas. While their maul is varied the scrum is still a blunt instrument winning penalties before the backs have a go. Some teams have chosen to blunt their set piece game for more control. The All Blacks are kicking more penalties and are using their powerful scrum as an attacking tool choosing that set piece as an attacking weapon. Their willingness to maul more and in different positions is also becoming more prominent. The French continue to play conservative rugby off the set piece using their big bruisers frequently. The set piece is used differently by different teams. Different teams play different ways and can be successful regardless. They can win games with little territory and possession or smash teams with plenty of both. The game of rugby is for all types and sizes and thats true in the modern era. I hope that administrators keep it that way and dont go further towards a Rugby League style situation. Some administrators are of the opinion that rugby is too slow and needs to be sped up. Why not rather empower teams to choose how they want to play and create a framework that favours neither size nor agility. That favours neither slow tempo play or rock n roll rugby. Create a game that favour both and challenge teams to execute their plans. If World Rugby can create a game like that then it will be the ultimate winner.
Go to commentsA new axis at 10, 12 & 13 is needed. And to start blooding young players who may be good enough to win us a world cup rather than stick with known players who won't.
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