Members of the Australian national rugby union
team have disagreed on Twitter over same-sex
marriage as the country prepares to vote on the
issue.
The spat came after 28-year-old player Israel
Folau posted on Wednesday that he opposes
same-sex marriage in a tweet liked almost 3,000
times.
The Wallabies player's comment was made the
day after postal ballots were sent to voters in
Australia for a non-binding vote on legalising
same-sex marriage.
Mr Folau's own teammates were among those to
object to his views.
"I love and respect people for who they are and
their opinions, but personally I will not support
gay marriage," Mr Folau said. He is known to be a
devout Christian, who was raised as Mormon and
converted to the Assemblies of God fellowship
with his family in 2011 .