with sorrow but general
goodwill as he departed for Paris. But Williams, at 23, was
seen as the turncoat young punk who waltzed out on his
Bulldogs team-mates and sold his fans up swanny along the
way.
So,
while Gasnier (an Australian) got the garlands Williams (a
Kiwi) got the bird.
Both
have suffered injury setbacks during their transition to the
15-man code but Gasnier looked to have made the smoother
progress as he settled into a winning format up at Stade
Francais.
Williams, by contrast, struggled in a losing Toulon team
under the tyro coaching skills of former All Black captain
Tana Umaga. Headlines and controversy have plagued the club
all season, but the recent recruitment of Sale’s director of
rugby Philippe Saint-Andre appears to have stabilised the
sinking ship.
Last
time out they beat fellow strugglers Mont-de-Marsan 38-22
and Williams wowed the watching critics with his best
performance of the season to date. Not only did his deft
handling set up at least one of Toulon’s five tries, but his
mesmerizing pace and balance also left six defenders for
dead as he raced over from the halfway line for the score of
the match.
Both
Williams and Gasnier began their respective transitions by
learning their new trade out on the wing, but the pair have
since been moved inside to the centres as their knowledge
and reading of the 15-man game increases.
Now,
with Stade Francais entertaining Toulon on Friday evening,
they are set to come face to face – or as one Australian
paper put it: ‘mano a mano’ – in a game that is crucial to
both teams’ end of season targets.
Stade Francais’ Australian coach Ewen
McKenzie understands the excitement at the match-up back in
his homeland, but said the novelty of the pair had now worn
off in France.
“Everyone has moved on. The players have been around now,”
he said. “The people over here call them ‘les teizistes’
[the 13s], but no-one is talking about it.”
McKenzie
also tried to play down the imminent confrontation, although
he did admit it was likely to transpire.
“We
haven’t finalized the team. Gasnier has been working in the
centres for us now. And obviously they have been playing
Sonny Bill there. So there is a possibility of some
head-to-head there,” he added.
And,
just for added spice, the match should also see the playing
return of Toulon coach Umaga after he finally received the
go-ahead from the New Zealand Rugby Board, who still held
his playing license.
