WELLINGTON - Sonny Bill Williams is fighting to keep his emotions in check as he prepares to farewell Hamilton and the Chiefs in Saturday's Super Rugby final.
The strapping inside centre will contest his second final in two years and is desperate to go one better than 2011 when the Crusaders fell to the Queensland Reds in Brisbane.
Victory over the Sharks at Waikato Stadium will be the perfect domestic sendoff before his New Zealand rugby tenure officially ends with two Tests for the All Blacks against Australia. After that, a stint in Japanese club rugby will be followed by a switch back to the NRL next year.
All that has been pushed to one side by Williams, who described last week's semi-final defeat of the Crusaders as among his career highlights.
"I've played in a lot of teams but I guess the emotions I feel playing with the boys, especially after last week's win, are probably second to none," he told reporters.
He intended putting a blank on his feelings this week, he said.