Sonny William Williams (born 3 August 1985) is a New Zealand professional boxer, and a former professional rugby league and rugby union footballer. He is only the second person to represent New Zealand in rugby union after first playing for the country in rugby league, and is one of only 44 players to have won the Rugby World Cup twice.
Williams began his career in rugby league, and has played as a forward over eight seasons in three spells in the National Rugby League (NRL), with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and Sydney Roosters. He has won 12 caps for New Zealand (the Kiwis) and won the RLIF Awards for Rookie of the Year in 2004 and International Player of the Year in 2013. In 2020 he played for the Toronto Wolfpack in Super League, before moving to Sydney Roosters the same year.
He first moved to rugby union in 2010 and played mainly as a centre for Toulon in France, Canterbury, Counties Manukau, the Crusaders, Chiefs and Blues in New Zealand and Panasonic Wild Knights in Japan. He won 58 caps for New Zealand (the All Blacks), and was part of the teams that won the 2011 and 2015 World Cups. He also played rugby sevens for New Zealand, competing in the 2015–16 World Rugby Sevens Series and the 2016 Olympics. He retired from both rugby codes in March 2021.
Williams has boxed professionally eleven times in the heavyweight division. He was the New Zealand Professional Boxing Association (NZPBA) Heavyweight Champion and World Boxing Association (WBA) International Heavyweight Champion, but was stripped of these titles after failing to respond to challenges.
Early life Williams was born on 3 August 1985, in Auckland, New Zealand, the son of a Samoan father, Ioane ("John") Williams and mother, Lee Woolsey who is a Pākehā New Zealander of English descent whose mother (Williams' maternal grandmother) was from Australia. He has an older brother, John Arthur, and younger twin sisters, Niall and Denise.Early hints of Sonny Bill's charisma, by Steve Deane, nzherald.co.nz, dated 16 March 2013.
Williams grew up in a working-class family in a state house in the Auckland suburb of Mount Albert. In describing his struggling family background, Williams later said that the "driving factor" in his pursuit of playing professional rugby league was to "get my mum a house."Sonny Bill Williams: 'All those troubles made me the man I am today', by Donald McRae, The Guardian, dated 29 October 2013. He attended Owairaka School, Wesley Intermediate and Mount Albert Grammar School. As a child he has been described as being a "small, skinny white kid"There's something about: Sonny Bill Williams, league player, nzherald.co.nz, dated 26 October 2013. who was "painfully shy", as well as "a freakish sporting talent, a competitive sprinter, a champion high jumper and cross country runner and the kid who played footy in teams a couple of age divisions above, to make things fairer." Despite being tipped to have a promising future in athletics, Williams abandoned it when he was about twelve years old. Though his father was an accomplished rugby league player, Williams has said it was his mother who introduced him to the game.
Rugby league
Williams was a Marist Saints junior when he was spotted playing in Auckland by Bulldogs talent scout John Ackland. In 2002 he was offered a contract and moved to Sydney (as the youngest player to ever sign with an NRL club) to play in the Bulldogs' junior grades.Sonny Bill Williams: Islam brings me happiness, by Gary Morley and Neil Curry, CNN, dated 27 November 2013. While training professionally, Williams worked full-time as a labourer.Rugby League World Cup 2013: Sonny Bill Williams eyes greatness, by Ben Dirs, BBC Sport, dated 22 November 2013. He advanced up the ranks quickly: becoming a starting player in the forward pack for the Bulldogs' Jersey Flegg Cup side in his first year. The following year Williams cemented a starting spot in the Premier League side. He also represented NSW as a junior; however, in 2013, when the NSW team investigated whether he could represent them in State of Origin, it was found that he only met two of the five necessary qualifications.
2004–08: Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs In 2004, when eighteen years old, Williams made his NRL debut for Canterbury-Bankstown against the Parramatta Eels at Telstra Stadium. In 2004, he was selected by New Zealand after only a handful of NRL games and on 23 April made his debut for the Kiwis as their youngest-ever Test player in the 2004 ANZAC Test against Australia. He had previously played for the Junior Kiwis. Williams played fifteen NRL matches during the season, establishing himself in the Canterbury squad. He experienced premiership success in his debut season and became the youngest person to play for Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in a grand final when playing off the bench in the Bulldogs' 16–13 victory over the Sydney Roosters in the 2004 NRL Grand Final. Williams capped a successful debut season by receiving the 2004 RLIF Awards' International Newcomer of the Year Award and being named in Rugby League World magazine's 2004 World XIII. As 2004 NRL premiers, Canterbury-Bankstown faced Super League IX champions, the Leeds Rhinos, in the 2005 World Club Challenge, which Canterbury lost 32–39.
Williams's contract was due to expire in 2005, and he received several offers to lure him away from the Bulldogs. The largest offer was rumoured to be about $3 million from UK Super League club St Helens. Williams decided to stay with Canterbury-Bankstown and signed on for a further two years. St Helens chairman Eamonn McManus later said the club had not made an offer to him.
Williams had a shortened 2005 season after sustaining a severe knee injury and several minor injuries. He played five games throughout the year and subsequently missed several internationals for New Zealand. Williams expressed his frustration, stating "You've got to be pretty strong mentally when you have injuries, and I've had a few." Williams later adamantly dismissed claims he was injury prone.
Williams stayed relatively injury-free throughout the 2006 season, playing in 21 matches and scoring eight tries. The Canterbury-Bankstown club were beaten in the preliminary final by eventual premiers the Brisbane Broncos. However, off-season surgery forced Williams to miss the Tri-Nations for New Zealand for the second consecutive year.
In the first game of the 2007 season, Williams was sent off and subsequently suspended for two weeks for a high tackle on Andrew Johns. He thus became the first player of the 21st century to be sent off in a first-round game. Speculation surrounding Williams's playing future ended when he re-signed with Canterbury on 9 March 2007 for a five-year contract worth over $2.5 million, extending through to the 2012 season. Williams was selected to play for the Kiwis as a second-row forward in the 2007 Anzac Test loss against Australia. He went on to play in 21 matches for the Bulldogs; scored fourteen tries and topped the competition, for the second successive year, for most offloads.Roosters v Rabbitohs preview, by Ben Blaschke, NRL.com, dated 5 March 2013. However, Williams broke his forearm in a tackle on Nathan Hindmarsh during the semi-final against the Parramatta Eels. His team lost the match, and Williams was again ruled out from representing New Zealand in the post-season 2007 Great Britain Tour. He was nominated for 'Second-Rower of the Year' at the 2007 Dally M Awards; however, Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles second-rower Anthony Watmough won the award.
2013–14: Sydney Roosters
On 13 November 2012, Williams confirmed he would be returning to rugby league after signing a one-year deal with the Sydney Roosters for the 2013 NRL season.Sonny Bill stops short on Bulldogs apology , by Ian McCullough, AAP, dated 13 November 2012. His return was undertaken to honour a handshake agreement with Roosters chairman Nick Politis.Rooster or Chief? Sonny Bill Williams will keep 'em guessing, by Brad Walter, smh.com.au, dated 30 September 2013. It took over a month before his contract was officially approved and registered by the Australian Rugby League Commission; he was "frogmarched into League Central to be grilled as part of the probe" into his contract.Sydney Roosters favourites to hold onto Sonny Bill Williams when he decides on his future, by Josh Massoud, The Daily Telegraph, dated 13 August 2013.Sonny Bill Williams signed, sealed, delivered as ARLC finally approves contract with the Roosters, AAP, dated 21 December 2012. Williams's return coincided with the banning of the shoulder charge, a manoeuvre of which he has been described as the best and most famous exponent.Shoulder charge ban urged, by Adrian Proszenko, smh.com.au, dated 8 April 2012.NRL rule change gets cold shoulder from players, by Sam Worthington, stuff.co.nz, dated 22 November 2012.Players up in arms as ARLC outlaws the shoulder charge, by Brad Walter, The Irrigator, dated 21 November 2012.NRL referees boss Daniel Anderson says referees got shoulder charge interpretation right in All Stars, by Chris Garry and Josh Massoud, The Courier-Mail, dated 12 February 2013.