ANYONE WHO HAS dipped a toe into French rugby can understand Ali Williams when he says “the whole thing is different.”
The 33-year-old, who will retire at the end of the season, spent the vast majority of his career in his native New Zealand before joining Toulon in 2013, but he’s toured the rugby world and knows how things work across the global game.
Old friends and past enemies warned him of what was to come on the Côte-d’Azur, but the two seasons since have been a whirlwind nonetheless.
“It’s just crazy some of the stuff that emerges, but then that’s just different cultures, isn’t it? And you just have to respect that,” says Williams as Toulon prepare for Sunday’s Champions Cup semi-final against Leinster.
“I have really enjoyed that change. A lot of people think I’m crazy so that probably helps. A lot of it has been mind-blowing.
“The whole thing is different, the way they look at the game, the way they believe an attribute of one person can compare to another.
The passion, the knowledge of the game they have. In France, it’s more about the physicality rather than anything tactical or moving the opposition around. I’ve loved it.”
Back-to-back Heineken Cup titles and a Top 14 trophy have helped the Kiwi lock love it all the more, particularly given his insatiable appetite for winning. That very attribute is what Toulon look to buy in when they sign up the likes of Williams.
President Mourad Boudjellal is well known as the outspoken public figurehead of the club, but the emotional intelligence of head coach Bernard Laporte has been key to bringing Toulon’s impressive component parts together.
“He is a motivator,” says Williams of the former France coach’s style. “He is one of those guys who can get inside people’s heads or a group of guys’ heads, whether it is through the traditional, standard way or whether it is a French uniqueness.
“He definitely makes you think and be highly motivated in terms of what you want to achieve. I found the guy very interesting in terms of what I am used to back in New Zealand; you know Joe Schmidt very well and how he operates.
“It is very different, the French, in terms of the emotion and the ability to win not so much being focused around tactics, that’s done during the week; it is very much the emotion of the occasion.”
Laporte has an enviable array of world-class talent to work with, and that in part makes his job as a motivator easier.
Leaders like Williams, Bakkies Botha, Matt Giteau, Carl Hayman and Drew Mitchell don’t need a word in the ear too often; their price tags come with a guarantee of mental power.
The perception in some quarters is that Toulon are beginning to show their age, creaking in certain areas, and Williams jokes that “the zimmer frames basically come off us on Wednesday or Thursday” of match week.
On a serious note, the World Cup-winning second row explains that Toulon take care of their veterans better than most.
“The beauty of this place is that they really look after us and you’ve got such a group of older guys that it doesn’t affect the team as much for you not to train as much as you do when you’re younger,” says Williams.
“It’s very much about enjoyment and it’s like anything – once you’ve got it in your blood, in terms of that competitive streak, you can’t really lose it. As soon as we get on the field, we instantly flip into thinking ‘we’re here so we may as well win.”
“It sounds very simple, but basically it’s a whole group of guys with a mutual respect that have played against each other for so long. We just love having fun and winning, and that just continues here.”
The collection of winners’ medals Toulon possess, both from recent years as a collective and from former glories before Boudjellal assembled them, are “an advantage over other teams who probably have not won the accolades,” believes Williams.
This weekend’s opposition have a nice collection of medals themselves, however, many of them from as recently as March when Ireland won their second consecutive Six Nations. Several of Leinster’s players have tasted European club success too.
However, Matt O’Connor’s men have bad immediate memories of playing Toulon, that 29–14 defeat in Stade Mayol last season standing out as one of the most disappointing performances of the Australian’s tenure so far.
“I think they would have learned from how we played last year,” says Williams of Leinster. “You can only do what the opposition let you and you’ve got to find a way around that.
“We played quite well that day and really went forward for them and gave them limited time and space. For both sides that is the key: to stop that time and space. Both sides have huge threats all over the field.
“I don’t see it being too different to last year, to be honest. Very physical.”
The old warhorse will hope to hold up for another couple of months yet before heading for the next chapter of his life in London, away from rugby briefly at least.
What odds of Williams signing off with another European medal to add to the collection?
