O'Brien was highly critical of Dickinson's performance in refereeing the scrums during the match at the San Siro in Milan, which New Zealand won 20-6, saying the Australian got it "completely wrong" when he repeatedly penalised the All Blacks at the set-piece play when it was the Italian tighthead who was boring in. He also warned Dickinson needed to improve his game or it could affect his future appointments.

But in a statement O'Brien, a New Zealander, said, "I have unreservedly apologised to Stuart Dickinson for the action of publicly discussing elements of his performance review and would like to extend that apology to the Australian Rugby Union. A clear and confidential best practice protocol exists for match official appraisal and feedback involving all stakeholders and I regret breaching this protocol."

Williams was banned for 12 months - reduced to four months on appeal - for his part in the infamous 'Bloodgate' affair. The wing bit on a blood capsule and faked injury during Quins' 6-5 Heineken Cup quarter-final defeat against Leinster last season.

The scam had been designed to get injured Quins goalkicker Nick Evans back on the pitch in an attempt to win the match. But the fall-out for Quins was considerable, with their ex-rugby director Dean Richards and former club physiotherapist Steph Brennan both collecting lengthy bans.

Williams' suspension expired earlier this week, and Quins have wasted no time drafting him back into the side for the lunchtime kick-off.

The Cherry Blossoms last week routed the visitors 46-8 and were again comfortable winners in front of a crowd of just over 10,000. Fullback Go Aruga, prop Kensuke Hatakeyama, flanker Michael Leitch and replacement wing Ayumu Goromaru scored the tries.

Hawke's Bays' Zac Guildford is up for the Age Grade Player of the Year award - alongside Bay of Plenty's Sam Cane, Manawatu's Aaron Cruden and Auckland's Winston Stanley - and also the Maori Player of the Year award where he will vie with Wellington's Cory Jane and Canterbury's Isaac Ross.

Guildford's stand-out Air NZ Cup season is also recognised with a further nomination alongside Southland's Josh Bekuis and Bay of Plenty's Mike Delany. Air NZ Cup champions Canterbury, New Zealand's IRB World Junior Championship-winning U20 side and Heartland Championship title holders Wanganui are in line for the Team of the Year award. Chiefs coach Ian Foster, Wanganui coach Guy Lennox, Canterbury coach Rob Penney and New Zealand U20 coach Dave Rennie have been shortlisted for the Coach of the Year honour.

"We needed a little bit of fortune at the end, with a missed penalty and the knock-on. But we created opportunities but didn't finish them off. I have never faulted the players' efforts over the last five or six weeks and sometimes we may be boring to watch but you have to be in the right areas to be in these games and work hard to create pressure.

"And, in the second half, we had huge amounts of pressure and possession. I cannot question the boys' efforts and tonight we got a bit of reward. To see their faces, it shows we are a tight unit. There were a lot of people who were, quite rightly so, criticising and having their say but I think it takes a lot of mental courage from the players to come through it."

"If it were a boxing match I think we would probably have won on points," he said. "They were hard to break down and sharp on the break."

"We couldn't find the killer blow to put them away. We had a couple of purple patches but we didn't take advantage. Willie Walker hit the post with a penalty and then was narrowly wide with a drop goal but we had to be more clinical."

His Bath counterpart, Steve Meehan, said: "We had a couple of chances with six minutes to go. "We should have drilled it into the corners and then we would have had the chance to win it. However without looking at the stats it appeared to me that we spent a lot of time in our half under pressure. We could do with a bit more creativity and we will have to work on that."