 Williams was selected in the squad to face Ireland, but suffered a syndesmosis injury—commonly referred to as a high ankle strain—during a training session.Chris Jack, who had originally been included in the starting line-up for the Argentina game, was brought in to replace him, and Williams took Jack's place for the game in Buenos Aires.Williams was named on the bench for the first match in the 2006 Tri Nations Series, against Australia in Christchurch; he replaced Jason Eaton with 20 minutes remaining and came close to creating a try when he leapt high to retrieve a cross-field kick from Dan Carter, tapping it back to wing Rico Gear, who was unable to hold on to the ball.