You Can’t Stop Sonny Bill Williams From Shining

A star in rugby union and league, and now a professional boxer, Auckland-born Bill Williams, 36, reveals his inner torments and tells The Guardian’s Donald McRae what drives him on.

“I get pretty emotional talking about it, bro,” Williams says quietly as he explains how he feels whenever, like now, he reflects on his extraordinary life. Williams has won the World Cup twice with the All Blacks and been a superstar in rugby league, where he lifted two NRL titles in Australia. When he switched codes he won a Super Rugby title and played rugby sevens in the Olympics and became New Zealand’s heavyweight boxing champion, McRae writes.

He has just written his autobiography, with the novelist Alan Duff, You Can’t Stop the Sun From Shining, and the book is as compelling and open-hearted as Williams is on this Zoom call from Sydney, McRae reports. It is full of the beguiling Sonny Bill sunshine, which I’ve felt on both occasions I’ve interviewed him, that sits in contrast to the darker strands of his story.

Original article by Donald McRae, The Guardian, October 12, 2021.