Siya Kolisi sends Wales star a special gift and he's over the moon

South Africa captain Siya Kolisi left Liam Williams over the moon after sending him a "special" personalised gift.

The Springbok gifted Williams a signed pair of his unique Rainbow Nation-inspired boots, with the Wales star proudly showing them off to his social media followers. The custom-made Adidas RS15 Pro boots, which Kolisi agreed to sport ahead of his side's glorious Rugby World Cup campaign last year, feature an eye-catching design that pays homage to his roots.

His own handwriting is even woven into the design but the Racing 92 star went one step further for Williams, signing the boots before seemingly sending them out to him in Japan.

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The former Wales full-back, who is nearing the end of his first season with Kubota Spears, was delighted with the present as he showed them off on his Instagram story. "Thank you for the special boot brother @siyakolisi," he wrote, adding: "Will go well with your framed jersey". Kolisi replied with a heart emoji.

Like many others who have played against him, Williams is clearly a huge fan of the Springbok skipper. But the respect goes both ways between the two men, with Kolisi himself previously speaking of his admiration for the former Scarlets and Cardiff back and describing him as "no-nonsense".

Ahead of facing Wales in their first Test match of their 2022 tour to South Africa, Kolisi said: “Welsh guys are tough and they don’t stop for 80 minutes. We know that as a team they will stand up to us physically for the whole 80 minutes, so when you have your opportunities, you have to take them.

“You saw in the [2019 Rugby World Cup] semi-final, it went down to the wire. It was so close. We’ve got similar game plans, a similar way of playing and they’re tough people who have also been through hardships.

“Some of these stories in their team, where they come from... A guy like Liam Williams is a hard guy, he’s a nice guy off the field but he’s no nonsense," he added. "On the field, he will go toe-to-toe and that’s what we’re preparing for tomorrow. They’re not going to be scared, we respect them a lot and that’s why we’ve made sure to prepare as hard as we can this weekend."

Kolisi will be pleased to see Williams so delighted with his gift, with the "remarkable" boots featuring a design that symbolises his inspirational journey to becoming a two-time World Cup-winning captain. Launching the boots ahead of last year's tournament, he said that the design "goes beyond just representing me, it symbolises hope for children from the same background as mine."

"The phrase ‘I Love Zwide’ is penned in my handwriting on the back tab, while the intricate map of the township I proudly call home is integrated into the boot’s overall print,” he explained. “The diverse colours woven into the design hold special meanings: green and gold pay homage to the African Bombers, blue represents my high school, Grey PE, red and black symbolise the Mighty Elephants and Sharks respectively.

"Blue stands for the Stormers (where I made my Super Rugby debut), and the touch of pink commemorates the Mothers Day jersey adidas crafted (in 2015), featuring my mother’s name – a jersey I had the honour of wearing on the field.”