New Zealand rugby sevens captain backs Williams for Olympic squad

New Zealand rugby sevens captain Tim Mikkelson has endorsed the inclusion of two-time rugby World Cup winner Sonny Bill Williams in the All Blacks squad for this year's Olympic Games.

Williams only started playing with New Zealand's national sevens team in January, having put on hold his rugby union and boxing careers.

"He's very powerful and he can do stuff that no one in the team is able to do," Mikkelson, told Rio2016.com during a visit to Rio.

"He has also shown that he can make very big tackles. He's grown the game of rugby worldwide and it would be awesome to have in the squad."

New Zealand rugby sevens coach Gordon Tietjens is expected to name his 12-man squad for Rio in June.

The team's former captain, Scott Curry, also backed Williams to be named.

"Sonny Bill brings a lot of exposure and publicity to rugby," said Curry, who was in Rio this week with Mikkelson and Tietjens. "He has shown that he is fully committed to sevens, he's learning fast and he will go really close to making the squad."

Rugby sevens will be making its debut as an Olympic sport at the Rio Games, which run from August 5 to 21.

Rugby union was part of the Olympic program from 1900 to 1924. Endit