Young rugby fan James gets his reward

London Irish fly-half Ian Humphreys may have ended up on the losing side following his side's recent visit to Sandy Park, but he has emerged as a real winner in the eyes of one young rugby fan.

The 30-year-old back was greeted with a chorus of boos from supporters packed inside Sandy Park when he inadvertently kicked the ball straight into the face of schoolboy James Allan, who was watching his first-ever Chiefs game with his dad Nick and other members of his family.

Immediately Humphreys gestured towards the youngster for his actions and even tried to find him following the final whistle, but James had already headed for home.

Humphreys, though, was determined to apologise and have engaged with Chiefs' counterpart Gareth Steenson and the club's Head of Communications, Mark Stevens, a plea was put out from both clubs for help and sparked a major hunt on Twitter, Facebook and websites.

Within just a few hours the story had reached in excess of 100,000 people via social media - with the end result leading to Nick contacting the club to inform them it was his son who had been struck.

Speaking from his Tunbridge Wells home, Nick - who had been at the game with James' Uncle Tristan, Aunt Nicola and cousin Oscar - said: "James was leaning over the rail at the front when the ball flew through the front railings and hit him. I don't think, even if Ian Humphreys was to try it again, he would manage it, it was just really unlucky.

"I ran down as soon as I saw he was hit but luckily he was just winded. I know Ian apologised straight away and tried to find us, but we had to leave early so we missed him. I think it was a really nice thing for Ian to do, he didn't need to offer his shirt but he did and the reaction from people online was amazing. We are really grateful for the kind gesture."

When told of the news that young James had been located and given his shirt, along with a few goodies from the Chiefs, Humphreys said: “It was the least I could do. You do not want to put somebody off a sport at such a young age because of something silly like that. Hopefully he enjoys the shirt and gets it clean – it was pretty disgusting."