Patience pays off for grateful Williams as he gets Bok start against Pumas

Rarely in the post-isolation years have the Springboks had as much depth at scrumhalf as is in the 2023 squad. 

Jacques Nienaber has a surfeit of riches to choose from when it comes to the No.9 jersey; the established Faf de Klerk, the stately Cobus Reinach, Herschel Jantjies, then the Sharks’ duo of Jaden Hendrikse and Grant Williams. 

The latter has been given the starting role for Saturday’s final Rugby Championship match against Argentina at Ellis Park. But had Nienaber picked any of the other four, no-one would have begrudged him. 

The Bok coach said on Tuesday it was Williams’s attitude while training with the squad last year that made an impression.

“It wasn’t just the two games [against Australia and New Zealand] when he came off the bench [that earned him recognition], it was last year when he was number four and five in the [scrumhalf] pecking order — the attitude he showed, how he trained and how he performed for his franchise,” Nienaber said. 

Williams, who made his Bok debut off the bench against Wales in Bloemfontein last year, earned plenty of plaudits playing for the Sharks in the United Rugby Championship (URC) and the Champions Cup.

“For the first time this year I was healthy,” Williams said about the reasons for his good form with the Sharks. “I used to play with lots of niggles, this year was the first time I ran onto the field without injury.”

Ironically Williams owes his bigger role for the Sharks to an injury Hendrikse suffered during a Champions Cup game against Munster in April. Williams, who has earned three Test caps off the bench, was one of the few shining lights for the Sharks in their defeat to Leinster in the quarterfinals of the URC, while he also held his own against the princely Antoine Dupont in the Sharks’ Champions Cup exit, also at the quarterfinal stage.

“I was playing club rugby for College Rovers in Durban after school in 2014,” said Williams, who was born in Paarl. “If there is one thing that got me here, I’d say it is perseverance.

“I was at my first Bok training camp in 2021. It was a blessing in disguise I did not play at that early stage. I wasn’t ready.”

“I am finally ready to play international rugby. It takes a lot to get to this point, you have to fight for everything, but I am grateful for the opportunity and the backing I’ve received from the management.”

The Williams/Manie Libbok halfback combination is certainly a mouth-watering prospect. Both are fleet of foot with excellent distribution skills, though he acknowledged his kicking, which underwent extra work at Monday’s training session, was an area that needed improvement. 

Given the options the management has at its disposal for the No.9 slot, Saturday looms as a vital stage on which Williams must perform to seal his plane ticket to France in September.

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