Sure you are in the right place, Sonny Bill?

CHRIS HEWETT

There are still those of us, generally of “a certain age”, who continue to defend the BBC as though our lives depend on it. “You’ll miss it when its gone,” we snarl whenever someone has the brass neck to question the future of the licence fee. “It’s worth the money, for the radio alone.”

But there are times when the great broadcaster does itself a disservice. Case in point: the current website feature offering rugby followers the chance to “rank their World Cup icons”.

One of the “icons” up for consideration is Jonah Lomu. Another? Jonny Wilkinson. The South African contingent? Francois Pienaar and Siya Kolisi. So far, so predictable … and perfectly reasonable.

But who’s this we see from All Black land? Sonny Bill Williams? Oh puhleeese. Rugby’s celebrity age has done funny things to us, admittedly, but this is a long way beyond a joke. Williams played at three global gatherings and picked up a winner’s medal at two of them.

Which is highly impressive, until you recall the fact that at no point in the successful 2011 and 2015 tournaments was he considered a first-choice member of the New Zealand back line.

Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith, the best centre pairing of the professional era, were no-brainers when it came to selection. Even in 2019, when the brawn and the brains were no longer at the heart of silver-ferned affairs, Williams was not selected to start the big games.

For the avoidance of doubt, here are some of the players he lords it over as a World Cup “icon”: Martin Johnson, John Eales, Tim Horan, Stephen Larkham, Thierry Dusautoir, Michael Jones, Os du Randt, Michael Leitch and Jacques Burger.

Up, you could not make it. Except somebody did.