Williams was in sensational form when the Crusaders defeated the Sharks 44-28 at Twickenham in March © Getty Images

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Players/Officials: Todd Blackadder | Richie McCaw | Sonny Bill Williams

Tournaments/Tours: Super Rugby

Teams: Crusaders | New Zealand | Sharks

Crusaders centre Sonny Bill Williams has been passed fit for Saturday's Super Rugby showdown with the Sharks in Nelson.

Williams, who missed the Crusaders' final game of the regular season against the Hurricanes with a hip injury, has been in sensational form this season and coach Todd Blackadder is looking forward to welcoming him back into the side after he came through a fitness test on Monday. "He looks like he's running freely and pain-free so we'll have a little assessment, but he looks like he's good to go," said Blackadder.

However, the Crusaders are likely to without flanker Richie McCaw who remains sidelined with a foot injury although reports suggest he could play a role off the bench if his rehab went especially well this week.

The 'qualifier' against the Sharks, that offers a semi-final place to the winner, is a re-match of their high-profile meeting at Twickenham in March that saw the Crusaders claim an impressive 44-28 victory. But Crusaders winger Zac Guildford is aware of the threat the Sharks pose and believes his side will have to address the "high ball" issues which have caused them trouble this season.

"The South African and Australian teams are testing us New Zealand teams with those high balls and we haven't really dealt with them too well," Guildford said. "They've got the big guys like (Bismarck) Du Plessis and the Beast who run hard all day, so we need to take care of them first off and I think that's half the way to shutting their game down."

If the Crusaders beat the Sharks in Nelson on Saturday it will bring the Canterbury side within reach of a unique title, having played every single match away from their Christchurch base, due to February's earthquake, and Blackadder is not underestimating the enormity of the feat. "I think it would be the most significant sporting feat globally that's happened in the world in a very long time, and it's something we want to be very much a part of," he said.