Williams shapes up for face-off against 'world's best'

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Martyn Williams says Sunday's All Blacks/Wales clash will see him come up against the player he believes is the best in the world, All Black captain Richie McCaw.

Warren Gatland has been selected a loose forward trio of Williams, Ryan Jones and Andy Powell to try and negate the All Blacks from gaining superiority at the breakdown at Millennium Stadium.

Williams is one of Wales' most influential players, and is a leading contender for British Lions selection for their 2009 tour of South Africa.

He said the chance to test himself against McCaw in the third test of the All Blacks' latest tilt at securing another Grand Slam was a challenge he was relishing.

"He's not only the best open-side in the world, he's probably the best rugby player in the world," Williams said.

"You've got to push the laws right to the edge and Richie's obviously the best in the world at doing that.

"It's probably the ultimate challenge as a player to face the All Blacks and they're in as strong form as ever.

"So it's a great test as to where we are as a group and as where you are as an individual as well to play against probably some of the best players in the world.

"It's a big test for us but we're really excited about it and can't wait."

McCaw won the support of Gatland on Thursday following the latest accusations that he was a serial cheat at the breakdown.

Former Wallabies coach Bob Dwyer claimed that test referees had two sets of laws at the breakdown; one for McCaw and then a stricter set for the world's other loosies.

However, Gatland said the ongoing sniping at McCaw should be read as a sign of respect for how good an operator he was.

"When you get the world's top players, the criticism they keep getting is because they are often so good," Gatland said.

"Richie is a fantastic player, but he is no different to other players in terms of the criticism All Blacks No 7s have had."

Williams said in many regards, himself and his fellow Welsh loosies should take the opportunity to learn from the likes of McCaw and his fellow All Black loose forwards Jerome Kaino and Rodney So'oialo.

"They say 'if you're not cheating, you're not trying' and he (McCaw) gets away with a lot, but so do all of them," Williams said.

"I think that's why they do well, they do it as a group, they push the laws to the edge and that's international rugby.

"You've got to live right on the edge and that's why they're so successful, that's why they win big games and that's why they're probably the number one ranked team in the world.

"We can learn from that, you've got to be careful not to give away silly penalties, but you've got to try and push things as much as you can as well."