WELLINGTON โ Preparing for world cup, a New Zealand rugby Muslim star has said that Islam has made him a new man after a successful spell playing union where he won the World Cup with the All Blacks.
โI wouldnโt be half the man I am today without my faith,โ New Zealandโs Sonny Bill Williams said in a BBC video.
Four years in union, including a World Cup win, six professional victories as a boxer, Williamโs conversion to Islam have seen him return to league a new man.
โI think Iโve become a better person. When I play, I play well,โ Williams said.
โI get a lot of love, a lot of respect,โ he added.
New Zealand are looking to retain the title they won in 2008, with Williams seeking to become the first player to win a World Cup in both codes of the game.
Born in 1985, Williams a top-notch rugby star in New Zealand.
He reverted to Islam in 2008 after attending prayer services at a Sydney mosque.
The superstar is the first Muslim to play for the All Blacks rugby team.
Williamsโ younger sister Niall Williams is a New Zealand international touch football player, and won gold at the Youth World Cup in 2005 and silver at the 2011 Touch Football World Cup.
โIslam has given me happiness. I donโt go around preaching or anything. It is like something thatโs just with me,โ Williams said in another video posted on YouTube.
โWhat it has done for me on my inside I canโt really explain. But obviously itโs helped with my footy, cause I donโt drink or anything like that anymore and I try to live a lot cleaner lifestyle and things like that, but essentially itโs just made me a lot happier.โ
Role Model
Turning from leagueโs most hated player, New Zealand coach Stephen Kearney said that international rugby league fans will see a new player.
โHeโs been fantastic. Heโs been really good,โ Kearney said of the 28-year-old, who won the NRL with the Sydney Roosters, told 3News website.
โHeโs light years away from where he has. He was always a special talent but heโs five years on, wiser and more mature. Heโs different.
โHe has got to know himself. Heโs measured himself, heโs grown and is a man now. We all need time to do that. At the time he was a 22-year-old, a big fish in the pond and some of us donโt handle that.โ
The south-pacific island country of New Zealand is home to 36,000 Muslims, according to the 2006 census.