Accommodation offer leads to meeting with rugby royalty

A stranded Lions fan who didn't have any accommodation has been taken in by the family of an All Black.

The mum of All Black Rieko Ioane and Blues star Akira found out Lions supporter Alex Edwards was planning to sleep in his caravan in the carpark of the Ponsonby Rugby Club.

So she took him in, but little did Edwards know that her two sons were New Zealand rugby royalty, and also lived in the house that he was about to stay in.

"When we got to their house, she introduced me to her husband Ed and the two lads came in, and she said 'This is Akira and Rieko'. I still didn't twig.

Edwards said it took him a while to click on to who he was staying with.

"After having a cup of tea with Ed for five or 10 minutes, I said 'Your lads must play a decent standard being that big!'

"Ed goes 'You'll see them run out tomorrow night'. I was like 'What do you mean?' I thought they'd be running out for Ponsonby, Sandra's team. Then Ed said 'They're starting for the Blues mate!'."

Not happy with letting the Lions supporter sleep in his campervan in their driveway, Sandra insisted the that Edwards join the family inside to sleep, offering him free rein of their house including the pantry.

While a little star-struck, Edwards shared numerous conversations with the rugby stars saying they were down to earth.

"They were just really nice, really good blokes," he told Veitchy on Sport.

"I can't imagine [staying with a rugby star] would happen anywhere else or back home."

His story has since gone viral with global media reporting on the Lions fan's big moment.

Alex's new found fame has seen him stopped in bars for photos and people wanting to hear his story.

"It was odd getting recognised in bars last night in Kingsland," he said. "As far as tours go, this one's pretty good."