Rugby World Cup star Jonathan Joseph has paid tribute to the way his close friend Tyrone Mings and his England football team-mates dealt with racist abuse in Sofia on Monday.
The pair are old school mates and Joseph followed the news from Bulgaria while in Japan.
“I have seen bits of it, read up on it. It’s not great what happened out in Bulgaria,” said Joseph, who is yet to speak to debutant Mings about it.
“On a personal level I am delighted that he has got his first cap. It could have been in better circumstances, but I’m happy to see a mate do so well.”
Joseph said that as an English sportsman he was proud of how the national team handled a very unpleasant situation, which saw the game paused twice.
“From what I have heard they were very professional about it and at the same time trying to stand up for what is right as well,” he said. “We are fortunate in the sport we are in to not see any of that stuff happen to us. You just hope things will get better for them.”
Mings, 26, who started at centre-back, said he heard racist abuse before the game even began.
