Sonny Bill Williams was the most searched player on Google during the Rugby World Cup. Photo / Rob Burgin
Sonny Bill Williams was the most searched player on Google during the Rugby World Cup. Photo / Rob Burgin
The Sonny Bill Williams publicity machine was working hard during the Rugby World Cup - with the All Black topping player searches using Google during the tournament.
But it was Dan Carter's groin that caused the biggest search spike throughout the six weeks of rugby - although Sonny Bill's 'rippedshirt' incident achieved the most searches overall.
Sonny Bill image searches were also miles ahead of any other players during the tournament - but after the final Dan Carter was back on top.
New Zealand's fascination with Quade Cooper's struggles during the Wallabies/All Blacks semi-final was a mere percentage point under the Carter groin strain - although Dan was consistently more searched throughout the RWC.
After Sunday night's final AB's captain Richie McCaw became the most searched player, but IRB Coach of the Year Graham Henry didn't figure at all - in article or image searches.
Player of the Tournament Thierry Dusautoir made small inroads in search stats following Les Bleus' exit on Sunday night.
Interestingly Kiwis were overtaken by Fiji for seaches for the word 'rugby'. South Africa followed New Zealand in regional interest, with Namibia and Ireland rounding out the top five.
