Williams forced to wait for appeal verdict

 Sonny Bill Williams and the All Blacks will have to wait to find out whether the centre will play in the opening Bledisloe, after the judiciary reserved judgement on Tuesday night.

Williams is currently suspended for four matches, including the August 19 Bledisloe opener, but opted to appeal the decision after World Rugby rejected an All Blacks proposal that included two preseason NPC games and and an inter-squad match in the suspension.

The appeal committee of Graeme Mew, Shao-Ing Wang and Stefan Terblanche did not return a judgement after a two-hour hearing on Tuesday night, though said in a statement they were committed to delivering a verdict as soon as possible.