Rugby boss to Sonny Bill Williams: Keep tweeting with stars

Sonny Bill Williams nabbed a rare selfie with Olympic 100m champion Usain Bolt. Photo / Twitter

World Rugby's boss says Sonny Bill Williams is doing a sterling job promoting Olympics sevens - by tweeting!

Williams is yet to take to the field in Rio with the men's tournament set to kick off tomorrow.

But Brett Gosper, the chief executive of World Rugby, is rapt with Williams' performance already, pointing to his social media selfies with the likes of Usain Bolt and Rafael Nadal.

Brett Gosper believes those social media posts could play a big part in making others follow ahead of the 2020 Games, highlighting how rugby stars can mix with the biggest names in world sport by going to the Olympics.

"I think there will be a lot of jealousies," Gosper said.

"And a lot of guys saying "I'd love to be an Olympian, because they are having such a good experience."

"We have seen that on Twitter. I think it is going to create some sevens envy."

World Rugby were initially keen for 15-a-side stars to line up in Rio but after many tried - and failed.

Williams is the only big name 15s player globally to have successfully switched to sevens to be a part of the Olympic Games in 2016.

Whether more 15s stars and/or rugby league players follow in his footsteps at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo remains to be seen, but like most things, Williams' influence will have a fair say.

A gold medal would obviously be influential, but Gosper reckons SBW's biggest impact could have already occurred via a couple of pictures posted on social media.

Williams has soaked up life in the athlete's village, and though the word is that he is the subject of a fair few admiring fan pics, the dual international is not above a fan boy snap or two himself.

Williams posted a picture of himself and Usain Bolt at the weekend, saying he and the fastest man alive had chatted rugby for a bit in the village.