Rugby World Cup 2019: Sonny Bill Williams apologises over Instagram copyright mix-up

Sonny Bill Williams has been forced to apologise, after posting a picture on social media, without giving the photographer proper credit.

On Tuesday night, Williams - who is of Muslim faith - hit out at Instagram, after an image of him and fellow Muslim Ofa Fuungafasi praying before the All Blacks v South Africa Saturday match was taken down.

The players posted the image on their Instagram accounts, but both had it removed, after another user complained that it violated their rights.

That led Williams to hit out at Instagram, writing on Twitter: "Surely a simple picture of someone expressing their gratitude for what they've been blessed with is ok?"

But the player has now apologised, after it emerged the photographer's byline had been cropped out, confirmed by Australian journalist Jamie Pandaram and Stuff.

Williams posted a screenshot of the image on Tuesday night taken from photographer Faiz Azizan's Instagram.

"Asalamualiakum brother, please forgive me for the misunderstanding," he wrote.

"I was sent the photo that already had your name cropped out, if I'd known before I posted I would've tagged you as you captured a beautiful moment."

Sporting stars like Springbok legend Bryan Habana and former Australian star Quade Cooper have sent Williams their love and support.

The justification from Instagram said: "We've removed or disabled access to content that you posted on Instagram, because a third party reported that the content infringes or otherwise violates their rights."

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