Sonny Bill targets Olympic sevens gold

Rio de Janeiro : Sonny Bill Williams' latest code-hopping venture will see the two-time rugby union World Cup winner target Olympic gold as rugby sevens makes its debut at the Rio Games.

As well as those two World Cup triumphs, the 30-year-old Williams has enjoyed tremendous success in rugby league and professional boxing, but made himself unavailable for Super Rugby and the June Test series against Wales this year to focus on the sevens.

To make things better for the Williams family, Sonny Bill will be accompanied to Rio by his sister Niall, 28, who was a New Zealand touch rugby player for several years before switching to sevenslast year.

"I'm proud of her, but at the same time there are a lot of media here and a lot of spotlight on myself and my sister, but for us it's not about us two," said Sonny Bill.

"To be able to say you're an Olympian and get a medal, that'd just be another level," Williams told ESPN. "It would be unbelievable. I get butterflies just thinking about it."

Coach Gordon Tietjens, who has guided New Zealand to 10 World Sevens titles, rated his side as medal contenders despite finishing third in this year's world series.

"It's going to be a challenging environment for all of us and all the teams as it's such a new experience," he said, with the New Zealand men's team drawn in Pool C with Britain, Kenya and Japan.

"Sevens is very competitive, so it's important that we perform and if we perform to our potential, we'll have a really good chance of succeeding in Rio."

Sonny Bill personifies the type of oval ball player any sevens coach would warmly welcome with open hands: a towering athlete offering physicality, dynamism, speed and offloading ability, technically strong with a capacity to read a game.