OPINION: With a couple of honest tweets, Chiefs halfback Brad Weber has done more to actively promote inclusiveness and acceptance in New Zealand Rugby than any corporate campaign could ever hope to achieve.
And at the same time, he's provided the perfect response to Israel Folau's claims that gay people are destined for "hell unless they repent their sins".
"Kinda sick of us players staying quiet on some of this stuff," Weber said. "I can't stand that I have to play this game that I love with people, like Folau, who say what he's saying."
"My cousin and her partner, and my Aunty and her partner are some of the most kind, caring & loving people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. To think that I play against someone that says they'll go to Hell for being gay disgusts me."
Now this is an opinion we can admire.
Rugby players in this country are often too slow to use their powerful voice on social issues. Weber deserves all the praise in the world for doing what’s right and having the courage to stick his head above the parapet.
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Other players may have been thinking similar thoughts, but it's another thing to stand up and communicate what you believe.
It may not be obvious right now, but we will look back at some point and recognise that those tweets gave someone else the courage to realise they're accepted for who they are in the national game.
It's a matter of time before New Zealand has its first openly gay All Black and I've no doubt the wait will be considerably shorter, thanks to a very public display of support from a Super Rugby player.
New Zealand Rugby has a duty to promote inclusiveness and diversity that it embraces. Last year, it became the first national sporting body to receive the Rainbow Tick for implementing policies that work towards this, but nothing is as powerful as the honest, unscripted words of one of their prominent players.
They're certainly more powerful than any hateful words spouted by Israel Folau. He's entitled to his opinion, but what Weber's done is emphatically ensure it's not perceived as one that's shared by other players in a sport battling to overcome homophobic stereotypes.
The irony of all of this is that by sharing his own opinion, Folau may have actually helped shatter some of those stereotypes. It's prompted an honest reaction, which reveals that genuine acceptance really does exist at the highest level of the game.
Andrew Gourdie is a Newshub sports reporter/presenter and host of RadioLIVE's Sunday Sport from 2pm.
