The All Blacks had just won the World Cup. The Irish Times reported “the All Blacks’ victory over Australia in Saturday’s final at Twickenham,” a “34-17 World Cup final victory,” and the New Zealand Herald later placed the moment “after fulltime on October 31, 2015.” “New Zealand centre Sonny Bill Williams” had “come on as a second-half replacement.” Then, he said, “I was walking around doing a lap of honour with the boys and a young fella came running out.”
The fan was a boy named Charlie. He “was just 14 when he boldly jumped from the stands of Twickenham Stadium to storm the field,” the Herald wrote in 2025, and he “was instantly caught by a security guard protecting the historic field. But the determined 14-year-old broke free of his grasp” and “was tackled at the feet of Sonny Bill Williams.” “By luck, I land at Sonny’s feet after the tackle,” he told the Herald. As Williams put it, “he got smoked by the security guard, like full-on tackled him.”
“But I just picked the kid up,” Williams said. The boy was “helped to his feet by Williams and returned to friends and family in the stands,” CNN reported, and “the All Black placed his precious medal around the young fan’s neck.” The Irish Times wrote that “it was his medal rather than the ball he handed over on Saturday night to thrill a young fan.” “Better for it to be hanging around his neck than mine,” Williams said.
“The following morning,” the Herald wrote, Charlie “made contact with Williams through a friend of a friend to thank him and offer the medal back.” “Instead, Williams doubled down on the offer, saying it meant more to the young fan and that he had the memories of winning the final.” That night, “In a late twist, Williams was called on stage at World Rugby’s awards ceremony in central London on Sunday night to be handed a replacement,” the Press Association reported, in The Irish Times; “World Cup organisers acted following a request from the New Zealand players and management.” “The All Black received a standing ovation as he took to the stage,” CNN wrote, and Williams said: “I’m really surprised, most of the boys would have done the same.”
When the two met again, Williams wrote, as Sky Sports reported: “Good to see the young fulla today, ur part of the team now bro.” A decade later, the Herald wrote, “the pair have developed the most unlikely of friendships,” and “the two-time Rugby World Cup winner’s children even refer to him as ‘uncle.’” Charlie “says he and Williams plan to put the medal up for auction and donate the proceeds to charity”; “The charity the pair are closest with is called Bhubesi Pride Foundation (BPF), based in Malawi, which empowers disadvantaged children in Africa through sport, education and leadership.” “A decade on, he looks back on that night as the one that ‘completely changed’ his life.”
Fact check
The facts and where they come from
- He had just won the World Cup, but he gave his medal away. The Irish Times: “it was his medal rather than the ball he handed over on Saturday night to thrill a young fan after the 34-17 World Cup final victory over Australia.” CNN: “having given away his previous gong to 14-year-old Charlie … moments after Saturday’s final ended.” 14
- His name is Sonny Bill Williams. The Irish Times: “New Zealand centre Sonny Bill Williams.” 1
- In 2015, the All Blacks won the final at Twickenham. New Zealand Herald: “after fulltime on October 31, 2015.” The Irish Times (Press Association): “as he celebrated the All Blacks’ victory over Australia in Saturday’s final at Twickenham.” 72
- On the lap of honor, a 14-year-old named Charlie ran onto the pitch. Williams, in The Irish Times: “I was walking around doing a lap of honour with the boys and a young fella came running out.” The Irish Times: he “ran on to the pitch while the players were celebrating their victory.” New Zealand Herald: he “was just 14 when he boldly jumped from the stands of Twickenham Stadium to storm the field.” 17
- A guard caught him, but he broke free and ran again. New Zealand Herald: he “was instantly caught by a security guard protecting the historic field. But the determined 14-year-old broke free of his grasp”; “the security guard escorting him back to the stands didn’t keep hold of him – so he tried again.” 7
- This time he was tackled flat at Williams’s feet. New Zealand Herald: he “was tackled at the feet of Sonny Bill Williams.” Charlie, to the Herald: “By luck, I land at Sonny’s feet after the tackle.” Williams, in The Irish Times: “he got smoked by the security guard, like full-on tackled him.” 71
- Williams picked him up and walked him to his family. Williams, in The Irish Times: “But I just picked the kid up …” CNN: “helped to his feet by Williams and returned to friends and family in the stands.” 14
- Then he took off his own medal and put it around the boy’s neck. The Irish Times (Press Association): Williams escorted him back to the stands “before taking the medial [sic] from around his neck and placing it over his head.” CNN: “the All Black placed his precious medal around the young fan’s neck.” 24
- “Better for it to be hanging around his neck than mine,” he said. Williams, in The Irish Times and on TNT Sports (Press Association): “Better for it to be hanging around his neck than mine.” On CNN, the same thought: “Rather than have the medal hanging up at home, it’s going to hanging around that young fella’s neck.” 134
- The next morning, Charlie offered it back, but Williams said no. New Zealand Herald: “The following morning,” he “made contact with Williams through a friend of a friend to thank him and offer the medal back”; “Instead, Williams doubled down on the offer, saying it meant more to the young fan and that he had the memories of winning the final.” CNN: “the fan in question was delighted with the gesture but later tried to return the medal to its rightful owner. Williams, though, rejected the offer.” 74
- That evening, World Rugby gave him a new one. The Irish Times (Press Association): “In a late twist, Williams was called on stage at World Rugby’s awards ceremony in central London on Sunday night to be handed a replacement.” Newstalk ZB: “World Rugby has presented Williams with a replacement at the World Rugby Awards.” 26
- They became close friends, and Williams’s children call Charlie uncle. New Zealand Herald: “the pair have developed the most unlikely of friendships … and the two-time Rugby World Cup winner’s children even refer to him as ‘uncle.’” 7
- They even plan to auction the medal for charity. New Zealand Herald: he “says he and Williams plan to put the medal up for auction and donate the proceeds to charity.” 7
- Charlie says that night at Twickenham completely changed his life. New Zealand Herald: “A decade on, he looks back on that night as the one that ‘completely changed’ his life.” 7
Sources
- Sonny Bill Williams gives ecstatic kid his World Cup medal (November 1, 2015) The Irish Times
- Sonny Bill Williams presented with second World Cup medal (November 1, 2015) The Irish Times, from the Press Association
- All Blacks ace Sonny Bill Williams handed new World Cup medal (November 1, 2015) TNT Sports (Eurosport)
- Sonny Bill Williams: All Black given new winner’s medal after giving first to teen (November 2, 2015) CNN
- Sonny Bill Williams reunited with young All Blacks fan Sky Sports
- Sonny Bill Williams to receive replacement medal (November 2, 2015) Newstalk ZB
- ‘Changed my life’: Unlikely friendship sets SBW’s World Cup medal on course for auction (Benjamin Plummer, October 29, 2025) New Zealand Herald, on Newstalk ZB
Notes
His age: the 2015 reports gave it as 14, though Sky Sports and one Press Association copy said 15; in his own 2025 interview, the New Zealand Herald says he was “just 14.” The press printed his full name in 2015 and he gave the Herald his own; this page, like the Short, calls him only Charlie.
Williams’s words: two versions exist. The Press Association’s, in The Irish Times and on TNT Sports, is “Better for it to be hanging around his neck than mine,” which the Short quotes word for word; CNN, from a broadcast interview, has “Rather than have the medal hanging up at home, it’s going to hanging around that young fella’s neck.”
The replacement: World Rugby handed it to Williams on stage at its awards in London on the Sunday night, November 1, 2015, after a request from the New Zealand players and management (Press Association). TNT Sports says the All Blacks’ captain presented it; CNN, Sky Sports and the Press Association name no presenter, so the Short says only that “World Rugby gave him a new one.” The offer to give the medal back came that morning (the Herald).
The auction is a plan, not done: the Herald says the two “plan to put the medal up for auction and donate the proceeds to charity,” and names the Bhubesi Pride Foundation in Malawi as “the charity the pair are closest with”; it doesn’t say the auction is for that charity, so this page doesn’t either.
Left out: a tweet of Williams’s whose timing the reports disagree on, and his remark about the security guard.
Sonny Bill Williams and Charlie are both alive. Charlie was a child at the time: only his first name, his age then and what he told the New Zealand Herald in 2025 are used, no photo of him is shown, and nothing about where he lives, his school or his family is given. Williams’s children are not named. Only Williams’s published words and the reporting of 2015 and 2025 are used; nothing about his life beyond this story is told.
Pictures: no free photo shows the final, the pitch invasion, the tackle, the medal hand-over or Williams and Charlie together; every picture of them we found is agency work, so none is used, and the boy appears in no photo at all. Sonny Bill Williams is in All Blacks training kit on November 4, 2010 (Luton Anderson); smiling at an All Blacks visit to Christchurch during the 2011 World Cup on September 18, 2011 (Geoff Trotter); running in to score against Tonga at St James’ Park, Newcastle, and in support of Ma’a Nonu in the same 2015 World Cup pool game on October 9, 2015, with the All Blacks lined up before it (three by quintinsmith_ip); carrying the ball against Namibia at the Olympic Stadium in London on September 24, 2015 (etgohome1); against Samoa at Eden Park, Auckland, on June 16, 2017 (HufflepuffKade); and against Wales at the 2019 World Cup in Tokyo on November 1, 2019 (江戸村のとくぞう). None is from the final. The 2015 winners’ medals are worn by Conrad Smith and Ma’a Nonu at the All Blacks’ victory parade in Wellington on November 6, 2015 (Pseudopanax); they are the same design, not Williams’s medal. Twickenham is seen at night during England v Australia at the 2015 World Cup on October 3, 2015 (Richard Allport), on May 27, 2012 (Diliff) and on December 1, 2018 (Henry Burrows), and the Webb Ellis Cup on show there on November 15, 2013, before the tournament (a photographer credited as Charlie (Fearless Fred), not the boy). The other players and fans in these photos are not named.
Photo credits
The archive photos in this story
The photographs and illustrations in this story are in the public domain or shared under open licenses; each one is credited below with its license. Tap one to enlarge it, or follow the link to its Wikimedia Commons page for the full record. The narration, captions and graphics in the Short are our own; its music and sound effects are credited below.
Music and sound effects
Music: Schumann, Kinderszenen, Op. 15: No. 1 'Of Foreign Lands and Peoples (Musopen, public domain); Mussorgsky, Pictures at an Exhibition: IV. Bydlo (piano) (Musopen, public domain); Dvorak, Symphony No. 9 'From the New World': II. Largo (Musopen, public domain).
Sound effects: Freesound, CC0.
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