‘Still going through it’: Tamaiti Williams’ fight back from life‑threatening infection reshapes career and club priorities

Seven months after contracting a life‑threatening MRSA infection, Crusaders prop Tamaiti Williams is still coming to terms with an ordeal that has shifted both his rugby future and his outlook on life.

“People ask how I’m feeling and I tell them I’m still going through it,” the 26‑year‑old said.

“We’ve been in survival mode, doing whatever we could to get through, but now I’m finally starting to stack some days together.”

In recent weeks, Williams has been cleared to begin formal rehabilitation with the Crusaders’ medical staff, a step that marks his first structured return to high‑performance routines since the infection struck.

Williams spent four months in and out of hospital battling a bacterial infection he initially dismissed as a “back niggle”. Only when pain medication stopped having an effect did the scale of the problem become clear.

“I knew it was bad when the meds weren’t working. I thought people thought I was crazy cause of the pain I was in,” he said.

“I don’t want to say dark days, but tough days… days full of pain and the unknowns were scary as well.”

Methicillin‑resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a strain of staph bacteria that does not respond to many commonly used antibiotics. In Williams’ case, the infection “set up shop” in his back and began eating away at spinal discs, jeopardising both his health and the physical foundations of his position in the front row.

“They said I could be in a wheelchair. But luckily it was my upper back… if it was in my lumbar spine, it would’ve been a different story.”

Serious risk forces rugby into the background

Crusaders doctor Hamish Reid said the severity of Williams’ condition became clear almost immediately.

“At worst, MRSA can kill you. And that’s the reality of what it was like in the first couple of weeks,” Reid said.

“He was really, really unwell and the bug had spread around his blood.”

The most challenging stretch came when Williams was first discharged from hospital, only for the infection to flare up again. The relapse forced a reset of his recovery and highlighted how fragile any return‑to‑play projections would have to be.

Williams ultimately required spinal surgery, with four large screws inserted to stabilise his back.

“I think the hardest part of the process has been the uncertainty,” Reid said.

“He’s not at the point yet where he’s finished all his treatment so having a condition come back, you treat it with a much longer tail… to really, really reduce the chance [of it returning].”

For a tighthead prop expected to anchor scrums and absorb repeated collisions across Super Rugby Pacific and international fixtures overseen by World Rugby, any structural compromise to the spine forces teams to rethink how, and when, they manage a player’s workload.

Withdrawal shock and the mental cost of recovery

Alongside the physical trauma, Williams has faced significant psychological strain as he adjusts to a very different daily reality.

He revealed he was blindsided by withdrawal symptoms when he chose to abruptly stop taking painkillers after leaving hospital.

“That one caught me blindsided,” he said.

“I’d been on a lot of pain meds for a long time. When I got out of hospital, I went cold turkey. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing, but I’d had enough.

“I just wanted to see my wife. If someone walked into the room and I didn’t know them, I’d get worried.”

The experience has underlined for him the importance of proactively seeking mental health support, even as the visible symptoms subside.

“I’d be stupid to think I can just move on from it,” Williams said.

“I’ve got a lot of support and a lot of mentors around me… but I’ll be keen to see someone (a therapist).

“I want to show it’s not weak to speak out. It might not be hard today, but tomorrow could be different, so we’ll put a plan in place and see the right people.”

That stance reflects a broader shift across elite rugby environments, where concussion protocols and welfare frameworks have expanded into more holistic mental‑health provision for players dealing with long‑term injury or sudden medical events.

Rebuilding a front‑rower’s body

While rugby remains part of his long‑term plans, Williams and the Crusaders have placed overall health above any immediate selection ambitions.

“Rugby’s one thing in life, but being healthy and functional comes before that,” Reid said.

“The priority has been getting him back to being a happy, healthy person who can support his family before we look to rugby.”

Williams has already lost around 20kg of muscle during his illness and the long hospital stays, leaving him facing months of targeted strength work to restore the power and stability required of a professional prop.

“I’ve accepted that. I know there’s a lot of hard work that needs to go in. I’ll stay open‑minded and just roll with the punches,” he said.

For a franchise built on forward dominance and set‑piece control, the absence of a front‑rower with Williams’ physical profile has on‑field implications. It forces the Crusaders’ coaching group to spread responsibility across the squad in the short term, while managing his return conservatively to protect both his long‑term health and his potential contribution at Super Rugby and Test level in future seasons.

Williams hopes to complete a full Crusaders pre‑season for the first time in five years. After months marked by hospital readmissions, surgery and uncertainty, simply walking back into that environment in training kit would represent a significant personal milestone.

Whatever his eventual playing schedule, the way club medical staff, coaches and player collectively prioritise wellbeing over rapid selection now sits alongside results as a marker of how elite teams are learning to handle serious illness in high‑impact, collision‑based sports.

More detailed information on MRSA and its typical treatment pathways is available through public health agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, underscoring how close Williams came to an outcome where rugby would have been an afterthought.