It’s no surprise that Sonny Bill Williams leads the way in offloads in the tackle after the first three weeks of Super Rugby. Or that the fact that he is second on the list of try assists.
The Chiefs inside centre is a master in getting his hands through the tackle and offloading to his support runners. It’s sort of become his trademark, and teams tend to focus more of preventing him from passing than actually putting him on the floor.
But “SBW” is also a fearsome strike-runner with the ability to break the line with pace and power. His offloads might be pretty, but at 1.94metres and 108kg he is a beast of a man who can power his way through defenders.
It’s a potent cocktail which makes Williams one of the biggest draw cards in rugby, and he is likely to put another 5000 backsides in the red seats of Newlands on Saturday when the Stormers take on the Chiefs (kick-off 3pm).
So how do you stop Williams? How do you contain a player with so much power, pace and skill.
Allister Coetzee’s plans include “chopping off his legs”. Not literally, of course, but the Stormers coach feels that by taking him to ground earlier will kill two birds with one stone.
“You got to tackle the guy, nobody can run without legs,” Coetzee said yesterday. “He is an unbelievable player, make no mistake about it, he has been unbelievable for the Chiefs.
“The way their game is structured, they ask a lot of questions and play off Sonny Bill. It’s going to be so important to work harder in our system, and not just focus on Sonny Bill, but the guys running off Sonny Bill.
“The thing is, the offload comes when you dominate the collision. You cannot dominate the collision when you are on the ground. If you dominate the collision there, then you can offload in the tackle.”
It seems like aggression is the only way to the tackle spot on. And half-hearted attempt to go high around the arms to prevent the offload or low to get him to ground could be futile because of Williams’ power.
“The guys are going to be doing what they have been doing,” Coetzee said. “If you go high, Sonny Bill can bounce you off and runs over you. It’s the simple thing, if you chop his legs, he will only have one way of offloading – from the ground.
“It’s easier to monitor the other runner when the guy with the ball is on the ground, and the defender stays out.”
Williams is going to come up against the form inside centre in South Africa in the form of Damian de Allende. The Stormers No12 is a similar sort of player, a big, strong guy who can also offload in the tackle.
De Allende’s biggest strength is getting over the advantage line getting the team to moving forward. He is also a strong defender, and can uses his power to knock opposition players back in the tackle.
The clash between the Williams and De Allende could be worth the admission fee alone on Saturday.
“I think the big thing for him is to maintain that level and bring a level of consistency to his game. And then the rest (Springbok selection) will take care of itself,” Coetzee said.
“We all know he has got a good skill set, he is a physical player and has got a great pass to create width.”