Henry plays down SBW hype

Wellington - New Zealand coach Graham Henry on Tuesday dismissed comparisons between star recruit Sonny Bill Williams and All Black legend Jonah Lomu, saying the rugby league convert still had much to prove.

Henry fast-tracked Williams into the All Blacks after just a few games playing domestic rugby union in New Zealand, a move the coach conceded was unprecedented and only added to the hype already surrounding the 25-year-old.

While Henry was full for praise for Williams's skills and undoubted potential, he pointed out that the player was yet to pull on a jersey for New Zealand.

Asked if Williams could become another Lomu for the All Blacks, Henry said it was too early to get carried away.

"I don't think we should get ahead of ourselves. There's a huge gap between domestic rugby and international rugby against the Wallabies," he told reporters.

"I'm sure there's a lot of areas in the game that he will need to sharpen up on to be a great international player."

Lomu exploded onto the international stage at the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa, becoming a household name even among non-rugby fans, before a kidney illness which required a transplant halted his progress.

Williams's combination of athleticism and celebrity has generated a similar buzz ahead of next year's World Cup in New Zealand, creating hopes he will stamp his mark on the tournament in the same way Lomu did 15 years ago.

Henry said that at 190cm and 105kg, Williams was unusually large for a back and had shown promise with his provincial team Canterbury.

"He's a big person, he's obviously very strong, he's got the ability to offload well in a contact situation, so he might add an extra dimension there," he said.

The New Zealand coach denied Williams, who walked out of Australian rugby league in 2008 to take up a big-money offer in French rugby union, was a mercenary, saying he took a pay cut to fight for an All Black spot.

"He only got probably about 25 percent of what he could have got in Europe so I think it is the complete opposite of a mercenary," Henry said.

He said that even if the hype around Williams continued into next year's World Cup, the player was grounded and humble enough to handle the spotlight.