Sonny Bill Williams To Replace BNZ Logo With Plunket On Super Rugby Jersey

Super Rugby side Blues player and New Zealand int'l Sonny Bill Williams unveiled the jersey he will wear this season -- he will bear a logo for children's charity Plunket, "instead of the BNZ logo he taped over last week," according to the NEW ZEALAND HERALD. The All Blacks midfielder was named in the starting lineup for this week's Super Rugby match with the Hurricanes, but "has been in negotiations all week over the exact uniform he will wear, after obscuring the bank sponsorship on the Blues collar against the Highlanders." Williams objects to BNZ and Investec sponsor logos "on religious grounds." Blues CEO Michael Redman said, "Throughout the process with Sonny, BNZ has been outstanding and understanding of the situation. The excellent collaboration and goodwill has resulted in an outcome that we wholeheartedly support." Plunket is a "core partner" supported by BNZ, which suggested Williams "carry the logo" of the community organization in the space on the collar of the playing jersey (NZ HERALD, 4/13).