Tamaiti Williams on the Superbug That Ate His Spine | And Where to now for the All Blacks

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Four months in a hospital bed. Four screws in his spine. Eighteen kilos gone. And the first thing the doctors told him was that he might never walk again.

All Blacks and Crusaders prop Tamaiti Williams sits down with Andy and Kieran Read for his most open interview yet on the illness that stopped his season dead. Not an injury — an illness. An MRSA superbug that settled in his back and, as he puts it, burned him out from the inside like a tree on fire. He takes us through the night he was rolling around in 10-out-of-10 pain arguing with his wife not to go to hospital, the spinal fusion, coming off morphine, the panic attacks, and where his comeback actually sits right now (no date — but he’s been cleared to run, with day one of pre-season in November).

Then Tamaiti puts his front-row hat back on to break down the Springbok scrum: what makes Ox Nché so hard to hold, why mindset is half the battle, and why he’d meet fire with fire rather than run from it.

Justin Marshall joins live from South Africa after the third Test at Soccer City — a Test he reckons was the real decider. Marshy on where the game slipped away, what Dave Rennie said to him at full-time, and a firm answer to the question everyone’s asking: are the All Blacks in danger of becoming rugby’s version of Bazball? Plus what has to happen in Baltimore.

Brought to you by Gallagher Insurance — your trusted insurance broker, backing the show and backing the game.

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📑CHAPTERS

00:00 — Intro 01:08 — "What actually happened?" — Tamaiti on the injury that wasn't an injury 01:57 — 10 out of 10 pain, and the superbug they couldn't identify 02:49 — Four screws, a fused spine & "a tree burning from the inside" 03:45 — "One of the first things they told me is I might be in a wheelchair" 04:36 — Fading away: 140kg down to 122kg in hospital 05:11 — Morphine, coming off the meds & the panic attacks 07:07 — The road back: no date, just six-week blocks 08:08 — Cleared to run — day one pre-season, November 09:47 — Can it come back? 10:14 — Front-row masterclass: what makes Ox Nché so hard to stop 13:13 — A word from Surfshark 14:58 — How do the All Blacks get parity with that Springbok scrum? 17:23 — Pancaking, hinging & painting good pictures for the ref 19:07 — Where the third Test was lost: turnovers & Ruben Love's yellow 20:32 — Leroy Carter targeted: Kriel and de Allende going at his left shoulder 22:20 — Fearless Player of the Week, brought to you by Gallagher 23:45 — 12-all at half time — then the game slowed right down 25:27 — Giving the Springboks credit: why champions dictate 26:10 — Cutting out the errors that kill momentum 28:27 — Line-out speed & the breakdown: where the game is won or lost 29:06 — Justin Marshall live from South Africa: inside Soccer City 31:28 — Regroup: what the All Blacks do with the series on the line 35:08 — Personnel or game plan? Marshy on what Rennie changes 37:47 — "Are we in danger of being rugby's version of Bazball?" 41:10 — What happens in Baltimore: persevere and believe 43:06 — Outro

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