All Black Sonny Bill Williams has given his Rugby World Cup winner medal to a young boy who was he said was "smoked" in a tackle from a security guard after running on the field following the side's 34-17 win over Australia.
Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith, Sonny Bill Williams. All Black legends now, all three, a trio who will never play together again in the black jersey and who perhaps more than any other in this team represent what Williams described as "the brotherhood".
Centre Williams, who replaced Smith at halftime and had an immediate effect, making two offloads in his first two touches of the ball - sending Nonu away for his stunning, angled 40m try with his second - as well as stripping Drew Mitchell of the ball with his third, will rightly hit the headlines with his act of giving his World Cup winners' medal to a young boy, whom he described as being "smoked" in a tackle by a security guard in the act of running on to the pitch to see his heroes afterwards.
"Only takes one thing to change someone's life. Enjoy it Charlie bro." Photo / Getty Images
To see him do it in a video shot by a member of the crowd is to see a caring person wanting to do the right thing. It really was touching and should, finally, put a stop to the endless criticism Williams tends to attract.
"A young fella snuck onto the field somehow but when he was coming up to give me a hug, he got smoked by a security guard, full-on tackled him. He was only eight and the other fella was a big man so he was lucky he didn't break his ribs or something," Williams explained about the encounter with Charlie Lines, who is in fact 14.
Charlie Lines is all smiles after being given SBW's winning medal. Photo / Getty Images
It is scenes like this that sum up the magical quality of sport. Photo / Getty Images
Williams said the medal was better hanging around Charlie's neck than hanging on his wall. Photo / Getty Images
"If that was a younger brother or cousin I would have given the security guard a hiding you know. 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.
"I think the moment got the better of him but he was just so excited to get onto the field with the All Blacks. I just thought I'd make it a night to remember for him.
"Rather than have the medal hanging up at home, it's going to hanging around that young fella's neck. He can tell that story for a long time to come."
Williams then posted on his Instagram: "Only takes one thing to change someone's life. Enjoy it Charlie bro."
But Williams deserves to be remembered in this match for more than that. Brought on in a tactical move by coach Steve Hansen in a bid to put the game out of reach of the Wallabies, Williams did his bit, sending Nonu away to put the All Blacks 21-3 up and seemingly on their way to victory, before Ben Smith's yellow card and a subsequent resurgence by the men in green and gold forced them to dig a little deeper.
"It was getting pretty tight there but the boys dug deep," Williams said. "That's when you know the team is more than a team. It's like a brotherhood. That's when you bust your arse, you cover tackles and push that little bit extra because it's the brotherhood. You do it for each other."
Asked about the impact he made on his arrival, and Williams was again straight to the point.
"I knew I'd been playing some pretty good footy at this tournament, but I didn't want to leave it there. I wanted to make an impact. I knew I was going to get a bit of [game] time tonight. I'm just really pleased for the brothers, you know -- especially the boys who are leaving, moving on."
Williams might be one of them. Tony Woodcock, Keven Mealamu, Richie McCaw, Carter and Smith - who made an early statement with his bone-jarring tackle of Michael Hooper - are either retiring or moving offshore, but Williams - following his call-up to the Olympic sevens team next year - might have played his last test too.
If so, it was a mighty way to bow out. He has been outstanding at this tournament. He was the one of the reasons why the All Blacks beat the Pumas in their first pool game, and every time he has come off the reserves bench he has added an injection of energy and power.
Ma'a Nonu scores the try Sonny Bill Williams helped set up. Photo / Brett Phibbs
"It's a pretty happy dressing room in there. More importantly, it's a happy country back home -- all our friends and family who supported us all through. And not just them -- the public support has been immense and I'm just really happy to get that win at the end.
"Australia probably have been the form team all tournament. Obviously we built into ours. We spoke about it during the week, that games aren't won without your forwards going forward and the pack really laid the platform.
"There always has to be a winner and there always has to be a loser and thank God we were the winner today."
The All Blacks celebrate after Beauden Barrett's try. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Nonu, who is moving to Toulon in a few weeks and is likely to encounter Smith, who has signed for fellow French club Pau, said: "I've just got to thank my family for being the cornerstone of my career, really. Big-ups to the boys, especially Richie and Dan, and especially my midfield partner Conrad. We've played a lot together and we may not play again together. We may see each other and play against each other in December and January."
Asked if he thought Carter would be successful with his dropped goal from 40m, Nonu said: "I'll back DC any day, really. It's a matter of him backing himself. He's thrived on the last three weeks, really, with self confidence. I thought he really wanted to have a good World Cup for himself, and I think he did that."
Williams, who along with Nehe Milner-Skudder, was concerned at the actions of a security guard who flattened the young boy afterwards, said of his gesture: "I was walking around doing a lap of honour with the boys and, I don't know if you've seen it, but a young fella, he ran out and got smoked by the security guard, like full-on tackled him, so I felt sorry for the young fella.
"It will be something he will remember, hopefully."
