Sevens sprinter Trae Williams is relishing a potential one-on-one showdown with USA speedster Carlin Isles, and their budding rivalry on social media.
Williams is a few weeks into his Australian sevens career after switching from the Australian athletics team, where he was one of the country’s fastest 100 metre sprinters.
The buzz around Williams’ recruitment in May saw questions immediately raised on social media about whether the man known as “Quadzilla” was a contender for Isles’ mantle as the fastest man in rugby.
Isles was having none of it, though.
When World Sevens Series commentator Rob Vickerman proposed a race on Twitter, Isles responded: "I’m not losing no race period! Fastest forever!”
Williams spoke with media after an Australian Sevens training session on Friday and said he was pleasantly surprised by Isles’ reaction.
"It was a bit of a … it was a bit weird to be honest. It was good,” Williams said.
"You don’t really get much like that in athletics, so to come over here and get something like that, it was good. Definitely looking forward to that one-on-one.”
Asked if he reckoned he could beat Isles, Williams grinned.
I’m not losing no race period! Fastest forever!
— Carlin Isles (@Carlin_Isles) May 22, 2019
"Ahh … we’ll see,” he said.
"Definitely (Perry) Baker and (Carlin) Isles are the two speedsters out there at the moment, so hopefully I get to tee up against those guys and show them what we can do.”
The first few weeks of training for Williams in the sevens world has been all about adjustment; both in a training load sense, and adding the extra elements of teamwork and ball skills, which weren’t a huge part of his life as a solo sprinter.
The Aussie sevens team are in a pre-season stage with a heavy emphasis on conditioning.
“There’s been a lot of fitness and its definitely something different. I am getting used to it,” Williams said.
"It’s a very big difference, usually I am just out on the track and just focusing on me. Now there are six other boys on the field, so it’s not just about yourself anymore. It’s about helping the other boys as well.
"It’s been really good, just adjusting to the game and the boys have bene really helpful in telling me what to do and where to be, if I am doing something wrong on the field.”
Williams said he’s been “slowly” picking up neccesary skills, under the watchful eye of coach Tim Walsh and coaching staff.
"He’s been awesome. We have gone through a lot of stuff, to help me improve my skills and we’re slowly getting getting there. They’ve been amazing,” Williams said.
"Just the stuff here with the guys and obviously before I came down here I was doing stuff at home (in Brisbane) and stepping through the skills as well.”
Williams said he hasn’t been able to wind up the top speed too often, with the focus of training more on endurance.
The toughest part for Williams’ transition to rugby will be handling defensive duties but the 22-year-old said he’s making progress in that space, too.
"There are definitely some big boys out there. I am getting better at it. Just working on the tracking and knowing to push them out wide and then bring them back in,” he said.
