Chiefs prop Angus Ta'avao showed his support for the LGBTQ community by wearing rainbow laces in his boots during the Chiefs' Super Rugby match on Friday.
Ta'avao wore the laces after a week in which the furore around Waratahs star Israel Folau and his anti-gay statements on social media refused to die down.
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- Folau requests code-of-conduct hearing over anti-gay rants
- Petition supporting Folau gathers steam
- Folau served breach notice by Rugby Australia
The 29-year-old prop is a former teammate of Folau's, the pair playing together at the NSW Waratahs in 2016 and 2017 before Ta'avao moved home to play for the Chiefs.
Folau is fighting for his career after Rugby Australia served him with a breach notice earlier this week, attempting to terminate his contract following the fullback's controversial Instagram post.
Folau declaring that hell awaited "drunks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists, idolaters" unless they repented.
Chiefs captain Brad Weber also wore rainbow laces on one boot and black laces on the other in the Lions clash.
Last season, several Chiefs players wore rainbow laces after Folau's first social media outburst.
International rugby teams, including the All Blacks, also wore rainbow laces in November after openly gay Wales captain Gareth Thomas was the victim of a homophobic attack in Cardiff.
Newshub.
