‘Sports do not build character – they reveal it,’ said American sportswriter Heywood Hale Broun in 1976, a phrase that couldn’t have been more apt for an incident that took place over the weekend at the Rugby World Cup final.
All Black Sonny Bill Williams melted the world’s collective heart following his team’s record-breaking back-to-back win over huge rivals Australia.
As he and his fellow Kiwis strolled around the pitch at London’s Twickenham Stadium, gold medals banging gently against their chests, soaking in the atmosphere of the appreciative crowd, one young scallywag was overcome with emotion and ran onto the pitch to celebrate with his heroes.
Fourteen-year-old New Zealand fan Charlie Line was unfortunately tackled to the ground by an overzealous security guard right in front of Sonny.
The video of the incident has since gone viral after Sonny, mortified by the young kid sprawled in front of him, gave the kid his medal as he wanted to ‘make the night more memorable for him‘.
And here’s the crux of this – this kid had been picked up off the floor by an All Black, walked a little bit with the winning team, had his arms around one of the best players ever who then escorted him back to his mum and friends in the crowd and Sonny thought giving Charlie his winners’ medal would make his night more special!
That, my friends, comes from the heart.
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