Wynne Gray wonders if there's time for Sonny Bill Williams to become a Rugby World Cup bolter in The New Zealand Herald.
"Once they were referred to as the bolters but that selection element, certainly for World Cups, has shrunk in the world of professional rugby and increased test matches.
"Remember that first tournament way back in 1987 when raw Auckland loose forwards Michael Jones and Zinzan Brooke made the cut. Jones played test rugby for Manu Samoa 11 months before but that appearance did not prevent him being chosen for zone and national trials, then the All Blacks.
"His rise seemed inevitable although there were many who questioned his ruggedness, wondered whether he was promoted because of Auckland's superiority or if he was an appropriate choice anyway, because of his never-on-Sunday stance."
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