ALL Blacks star Sonny Bill Williams will miss Saturday’s Test series decider against the British and Irish Lions after receiving a four-week ban. Williams was shown a 25th-minute red card by French referee Jerome Garces following a shoulder charge into Lions wing Anthony Watson’s head at Westpac Stadium in a match the tourists went on to win 24-21.
World Cup-winning centre Williams, who revealed he has apologised to Watson, was given the suspension when he appeared before a three-man judicial panel in Wellington yesterday.
The verdict, which was announced by the New Zealand Rugby Union, means the All Blacks will be without one of their most influential players as they target a series-clinching victory in Auckland.
Ahead of Williams’ hearing outcome, the All Blacks called up centre Malakai Fekitoa to their squad. After the hearing, Williams gave his reaction in a series of tweets published on the All Blacks’ official Twitter account.
The 31-year-old said he was “really disappointed, but happy with being able to get in there and say my piece”. He added: “They’ve come to the conclusion that it was reckless, it wasn’t intentional. I’ve got in contact with Anthony, and I’ve apologised to him.”
And in a final tweet, Williams added: “... but very disappointed that I was sent from the field last night and let my brothers down.”
Williams was the first All Blacks player for 50 years to be sent off in a Test match, only the third of all-time, and the first in New Zealand.
Speaking ahead of the hearing, New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen said: “Look, he’s disappointed, not for himself, he accepts he has made a mistake.
“He is disappointed because he let the team down. One of our biggest mantras is the team comes first, and he knows he has let the team down, but we can’t go back and change it.
“People make mistakes. It’s a fluid game, a fast game and a physical game. Unfortunately, he made a mistake and we’ve got to move on from it. Sonny has paid a big price and the team has paid a big price but we have to wear the decision. That’s just the way it goes. Let’s move on and talk about how good a Test match it was.”
The Lions’ victory consigned New Zealand to a first defeat on home soil since 2009, ending a 46-match unbeaten run. The All Blacks have not lost successive Tests for six years.
“No-one likes losing, but going to bed and going to sleep doesn’t change the result,” Hansen added.
“We’ve got to go to Auckland and we’ve got to go to prepare for a Test match. Does it make next Saturday a little bit more exciting than if we had won last night? You bet it does. We’ve got a real challenge on our hands, so that is exciting.
“I thought we were mightily courageous. Did we play well? Debatable. I think we can play smarter, but we certainly showed a lot of ticker and a lot of heart. I am very proud of our guys.
“They hung in there against a quality side and had a chance of winning the game. They never gave up, and as a coach, that is all you can ask your players to do when you are in that sort of situation.
“The big thing about when you lose is that it’s painful, isn’t it? It sharpens the mind, it sharpens the attitude, and you look at things probably a little deeper than you normally do. We try to learn when we win, but in this case we had a side that beat us because on the day they were a little better than us. We have to acknowledge that.
“Everyone will be excited next week. It will be great. Rugby has been needing something like this for a while. It’s now got it, so everyone will be a bit nervy about that because it could go either way, and how exciting is that?”
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