An over-excited Boris Johnson had to apologise today after knocking over a ten-year-old boy during a game of street rugby in Japan.
Clearly keen to put England’s disastrous World Cup showing behind him, the London mayor took out Toki Sekiguchi as he raced down the mini-turf pitch in Tokyo, ball in hand.
The schoolboy hit the ground hard but was soon up and running again.
After they had picked themselves up, the mayor went over to Toki and asked if he was OK before shaking his hand and telling him: “I’m so sorry.”
Toki was clearly winded in the incident but insisted diplomatically that it had been “enjoyable” meeting Mr Johnson. “I felt a little bit of pain but it’s OK,” he said.
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The pair later posed for photographs and Mr Johnson handed over a 2015 rugby ball to the youngster.
Mr Johnson learnt to play rugby at prep school before taking to the playing fields of Eton and remains a keen fan of the sport.
He admitted two years ago that he might take a tilt at the Tory leadership “if the ball ever came loose from the back of the scrum” and returned to the theme at last week’s Tory conference, using his own experience as a tight-head prop to portray himself as just the sort of chap you would want on your team.
It is not the first time Mr Johnson has collided with a youngster on the sports field. Last year he sent a nine-year-old tumbling to the floor during a football match.
The mayor had been taking part in the friendly as part of an initiative to get more children involved in sport. But Mr Johnson tripped up the child, sparking cries of “referee” from the crowd.
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More famously, Mr Johnson rugby tackled the retired German midfielder Maurizio Gaudino while appearing for an England XI during a 2006 charity match. The game, marking the 40th anniversary of England’s victory in the 1966 world cup final, was won 4-2 by the Germans.
The rugby knockabout, capping a three-day trade mission, was meant to mark Japan’s preparations to host the next Rugby World Cup in 2019.
Yesterday Mr Johnson won favour with his hosts by complaining that it was “totally unfair” that Japan had been dumped out of the current world cup finals at the group stage despite winning three straight matches.
Asked if he backed a rule change in the game, Mr Johnson told the BBC: “I’d support that. It seems totally unfair that they should win three times in their pool group and not go through.
“They are plainly heroes here and they deserve to be. They [produced] a fantastic, heroic performance.”