He was described by a British columnist earlier this month as the “albino warthog” — a name London Mayor Boris Johnson fully lived up to in Tokyo Thursday when he flattened a 10-year-old rugby fan.
The famously eccentric British politician, renowned for his flop of blond hair and off the cuff remarks, was showing off his ball “skills” to a group of schoolchildren during a three-day visit to the Japanese capital.
Video footage showed the lumbering mayor — dressed in a white shirt and tie, his sleeves rolled up — running down the side of a small pitch chased by children.
One particularly brave boy stood his ground only to be floored by the mayor’s considerable bulk, sending both parties tumbling to the ground much to the merriment of the gathered press and spectators.
“I’m so sorry, are you okay?” Johnson could be heard asking the boy who nodded and then shook the mayor’s hand.
“We have just played a game of street rugby with a bunch of kids and I accidentally flattened a 10-year-old, on TV unfortunately,” Johnson told reporters after the match according to British media.
“But, he bounced back, he put it behind him, the smile returned rapidly to his face,” he added.
The Conservative politician has previous form in over-enthusiastic displays of competitive grit.
In 2006 he barreled headfirst into former Germany international Maurizio Gaudino in a rugby-style tackle during a charity football match, and in 2014 he mistimed a tackle during an informal kickabout, upending a 9-year-old boy.
As the video went viral, so did the Twitter comments.
“International diplomacy at its finest,” tweeted Michael Deacon (@MichaelPDeacon), a sketchwriter for Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper.
“I’d vote for Boris Johnson, a guy who’s not afraid to take on any challenge put in front of him… however small it may be,” added Gareth Williams (@bluesman74).
Japan — a country where football, baseball and sumo wrestling usually rule supreme — is undergoing something of a rugby renaissance following the national team’s stunning success at the Rugby World Cup in England.
Although they failed to make it through the qualifiers, Japan came away with three victories — including an astonishing win over South Africa in their opening game.
Previously, Japan had only ever won once at a World Cup, against minnows Zimbabwe in 1991.
Japan hosts the next Rugby World Cup in 2019.