Folau remained standing while his teammates and the opposition took a knee before kick-off in deference to the Black Lives Matter movement. The move by Folau caused a stir among some journalists covering the game and sparked largely negative responses on social media. He soon began trending on Twitter in the UK.
Guardian journalist Aaron Bower wrote: “St Helens and Catalans players take the knee before kick-off: but noticeably Israel Folau did NOT join the rest of the players in doing so. Wow.”
