Hockey player loses his girl to Sonny Bill

Sonny Bill Williams. Photo / Getty Images

A young hockey star is "cut up" after Jaime Ridge dumped him for Sonny Bill Williams.

Under 21 New Zealand rep Dwayne Rowsell had been dating Jaime for several months until she took up with SBW.

His father Bert Rowsell said Dwayne was upset about the split but admitted: "There is not a girl in the country that wouldn't go for Sonny Bill Williams."

Northlander Bert said: "He is just a country kid that likes his sport, he is only 20, a young fella.

"He is pretty cut up at this stage. There is probably not a girl in the country that wouldn't go for Sonny Bill. But things change, for right or wrong. You just hope people won't get upset along the way."

Bert said Jaime had stayed with their family over Christmas at the family home in Whangarei.

"She came up here and is a lovely young kid, a wonderful kid. She cooked some beautiful food, we went out boating, she fitted in like a daughter." They had been seeing each other for a few months.

"I wish her well and hope it works out well for her."

Bert said he had met Jaime's mother Sally and understood why she took such an active role in her daughter's life.

"[Sally] has had to take on the father role as well. She has had a pretty tough life at times by the look of it. And it's good to see some happiness come their way. If it happens with Sonny then she should go for it."

Rowsell's brother-in-law and Black Sticks linchpin Phil Burrows took to Twitter to defend Dwayne Rowsell.

"@SonnyBWilliams #stolemybrosgirl #cold," he tweeted.

He then replied to teammate Simon Child's tweet about bad traffic by saying: "hahaha at least @SonnyBWilliams didnt steal ur mrs".

Child replied: "Yeah that's s***s sad man."

Jaime was pictured with mother Sally at Sonny Bill's sparring session on Friday in Hamilton. Williams is preparing to fight Clarence Tillman III.