AUCKLAND – Sonny Bill Williams has made another heart-warming gesture, this time presenting his All Blacks shorts and socks to a young Lions fan as he left the field after the first Test in Auckland.
The latest touching moment follows Williams memorably giving away his World Cup winners’ medal to a young English fan after the All Blacks won the world crown at Twickenham two years ago.
This time, after the All Blacks beat the Lions 30-15 Saturday in the first Test, Williams stripped off his shorts and socks and handed over the kit to a young Lions fan, with the gesture caught on video and posted on social media.
“Is there no end to @SonnyBWilliams and his classy gestures?!” tweeted Pat McCarry, who put up the video.
“Sonny Bill gives his socks & shorts to a young Lions fan on the edge of Eden Park. Sonny Bill in his undies ladies!” added Melanie D.
Is there no end to @SonnyBWilliams and his classy gestures?! #gent pic.twitter.com/oHN4TTzmXv
— Pat McCarry (@patmccarry) June 24, 2017
Springbok record try-scorer Bryan Habana retweeted McCarry’s video, to which former Springbok fullback Percy Montgomery replied about Williams: “True professional and puts the team ahead of himself.”
After the All Blacks won the 2015 World Cup final against Australia, Williams presented his winners’ medal to a boy who had been knocked over by a security guard.
— Sonny Bill Williams (@SonnyBWilliams) June 24, 2017
“I was walking around doing a lap of honour with the boys, and a young fella came running out and he got smoked by the security guard, like full-on tackled him. I felt sorry for the little fella,” Williams said at the time.
“If that was a younger brother or cousin, I would have given the security guard a hiding. But I just picked the kid up and took him back to his old lady, and tried to make the night more memorable for him. Better (for the medal) to be hanging around his neck than mine.”