{"id":107942,"date":"2021-07-29T14:14:20","date_gmt":"2021-07-29T14:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=107942"},"modified":"2021-07-29T14:57:42","modified_gmt":"2021-07-29T14:57:42","slug":"sbws-surprise-verdict-on-rts-all-blacks-bid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=107942","title":{"rendered":"SBW's surprise verdict on RTS All Blacks bid"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dual-code great Sonny Bill Williams<\/a> has backed Roger Tuivasa-Sheck<\/a> to make a successful transition to rugby union, saying the move is a "shot in the arm" for the code in Australia.<\/p>\n

Tuivasa-Sheck made his code switch ahead of schedule this week amid concerns around the trans-Tasman travel bubble<\/a>, ending a wildly successful NRL career which saw him make 195 appearances and score 58 tries for both the Sydney Roosters and NZ Warriors between 2012 and 2021.<\/p>\n

Williams, who was teammates with Tuivasa-Sheck on the Roosters' 2013 premiership-winning side, backed his countryman to eventually crack the All Blacks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

"I think he'll play wing in the early stages of his transition," he said on Nine's NRL coverage.<\/p>\n

"For me, it's not a case of will he make it to the All Blacks or will he thrive in the game of 15, it's a question of how long it'll take.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"We've got to remember that he grew up as a rugby player and league boys poached him from the game of rugby and brought him across, so he shouldn't have too much problems transitioning back.<\/p>\n

"The biggest thing for rugby-loving people in Australia is it's the shot in the arm that Australian rugby union needs right now."<\/p>\n

Williams said he admired Tuivasa-Sheck's humility despite his tremendous success which has seen him rise to the top of rugby league.<\/p>\n

"For me, what he represents, obviously we see his feats on the field and it's amazing he can do things that no other player can do, but what I love about him is just him as a man, the person," he said.<\/p>\n

"He is humble and he's kept that hard-working approach all throughout his career. When you add that quality to the freakish God-given talent that he has, you get what you get.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"What Roger also represents is he is a boy from South Auckland, a predominantly low-income area, and he's made it. He's thrived on the biggest stage so a lot of young guys who come from that similar background see him as an inspiration."<\/p>\n

Tuivasa-Sheck's early exit came after he had confirmed earlier in the year that 2021 would be his final season in the 13-man code<\/a>, as he eyes a place in the All Blacks squad for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.<\/p>\n

"I'm really grateful that the club has supported me through this process and we've come to an agreement. It was a really tough decision," Tuivasa-Sheck said.<\/p>\n

"I was trying to get my family to come over here into Australia so we could lock down here and go about our business.<\/p>\n

"It was a tough decision to leave the group and leave this club. It was tough holding it all back. Having the boys seeing me and I'm pretty sure they're disappointed \u2026 it was tough to hold back the tears that's for sure."<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dual-code great Sonny Bill Williams has backed Roger Tuivasa-Sheck to make a successful transition to rugby union, saying the move is a "shot in the […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107942"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=107942"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107942\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107944,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107942\/revisions\/107944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=107942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=107942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=107942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}