Super Rugby season 2015: Israel Folau, Sonny Bill Williams to clash in trial in Sydney’s west
ISRAEL Folau’s first rugby showdown with Sonny Bill Williams will take place in the league heartland of Campbelltown as NSW seek to grow the game out west.
Rugby
Don't miss out on the headlines from Rugby. Followed categories will be added to My News.
ISRAEL Folau’s first rugby showdown with Sonny Bill Williams will take place in the league heartland of Campbelltown on February 6 as the NSW Waratahs seek to grow the game out west.
Originally their second and final trial game against the Chiefs was to be held at Allianz Stadium, which Williams called home for the past two years playing for the Sydney Roosters, but pop group One Direction are holding a concert there that same weekend on February 7-8.
Waratahs coach Michael Cheika took the opportunity to look at a venue that would give greater exposure to the code and the west, which has long been ignored by rugby, will receive a massive boost with the two most famous former NRL stars selling the code to an important potential fan base at Campbelltown Sports on the Friday night (February 6, 7.30pm).
Folau, who grew up in Minto, has yet to cross paths with Williams in the 15-man code as he switched from AFL just as SBW moved back to league from the All Blacks.
The Tahs and Chiefs — who will start as the two favourites for the Super Rugby title won by NSW last year — are not scheduled to meet in the regular season so this will be the only time Folau and Williams square off before the Bledisloe Cup series in August unless their franchises meet in the finals.
While both Folau and Williams had highly successful NRL careers, they are now undoubtedly among the biggest names in world rugby, where they are feted from Cape Town to Cardiff.
But Campbelltown is also a familiar ground and there should plenty of support for both given the large contingent of Tongan and Samoan residents in the region, while Waratahs members will receive free entry.
Williams has a heavyweight boxing fight scheduled against American veteran Chauncy Welliver on January 31 in Sydney, and is then expected to join his Chiefs teammates for the trial against NSW, which falls a week before the Super Rugby season kicks off.
His Chiefs and All Blacks teammate, Liam Messam, will be making his professional boxing debut on Williams’ undercard.
Along with the Folau-Williams battle, there will be a number of other intriguing individual contests within the Waratahs-Chiefs trial.
Bernard Foley, who kicked the winning goal in last year’s Super Rugby final against the Crusaders and is now established as the Wallabies’ first-choice No. 10, goes head-to-head with All Blacks five-eighth Aaron Cruden.
And NSW skipper Dave Dennis, who has not played since rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in the final round of the Super Rugby regular season, is expected to return in the new position of lock forward.
Dennis would be coming up against the IRB 2014 world player of the year, Brodie Retallick.
The Tahs have also organised an innovative first trial match, which will consist of three 30-minute games against Shute Shield clubs Sydney University, Randwick and Parramatta.
This will be held the same weekend as Williams’s fight and could also potentially be played in Campbelltown, although a final decision is pending.
Those two trials will be the only in-game preparation NSW has before they start the defence of their premiership against Western Force on the afternoon of Sunday, February 15.
All of NSW’s Wallabies stars, including Folau and Kurtley Beale, have returned to training and are being subjected to brutal hill runs and conditioning work.
Originally published as Super Rugby season 2015: Israel Folau, Sonny Bill Williams to clash in trial in Sydney’s west
Wallabies lose key man ahead of White’s Lions farewell
A key Wallaby has been ruled out of the third Test against the British & Irish Lions and will miss Nic White’s farewell to international rugby.
Lions controversy sparks ‘online abuse’, Wallabies’ coach steps in
Wallabies’ coach Joe Schmidt has stepped in to protect Carlo Tizzano after he was hounded off social media by persistent abuse after his role in the dramatic finish to the second Test.