Sam Burgess has been called a "lifesaver" after helping a choking man during a South Sydney Rabbitohs bonding exercise.
Burgess and his team-mates were taking part in an eating competition at Sydney Fish Market when, according to one eye-witness, an employee joined in and began choking.
The cross-code England star intervened and the man survived, and a message on the Market's Twitter feed said: "All we can say is that Sam Burgess is a true hero. And we are not talking about on the footy field. @SSFCRABBITOHS #lifesaver #thankyou".
Burgess replied: "Glad I could help. I hope everyone is ok. Thanks for having us today."
The witness told Fox Sports Australia: "The Souths boys were at work doing a fish-eating challenge and then one of the managers got involved.
"They were eating and some seafood got caught in his throat and he started choking. Sam raced straight over and grabbed him and started putting his body weight on him to try and get it out.
"He was helping him for about 30 to 40 seconds and instead of spitting it out he ended up swallowing it, but if Sam hadn't have helped it could have been bad. I'm telling you Sam is a hero."
Burgess returned to South Sydney last year after calling time on his brief spell in rugby union following England's early World Cup exit.