1 Aug 2008

Blanco tells Williams to stay in NRL to end of season

11:16 am on 1 August 2008

France's club rugby president has encouraged Sonny Bill Williams to finish the National Rugby League season with the Bulldogs before moving to Toulon.

Serge Blanco, a former French fullback with 93 Test caps, says he's disappointed the 22-year-old Williams didn't honour his contract with the Bulldogs before going to France for a proposed switch to rugby union.

Blanco says he finds it funny and bizarre that a player would break his contract in the middle of the season to go somewhere else.

Blanco, whose Ligue Nationale de Rugby controls the Top 14 and Pro D2 competitions in France, said he had not yet been contacted by NRL chief executive David Gallop over the issue.

Blanco also says Toulon had not consulted him about Williams's reported recruitment.