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Boris Johnson was forced to apologise to a schoolboy after shoulder-barging him during a 'friendly' game of rugby.

The London Mayor, who is on a business trip to Japan , knocked Toki Sekiguchi - aged just 10 - to the ground as he ran with the ball.

The politician - dressed in suit trousers and a shirt - was filmed taking a pass and then charging down the wing.

Head down, he races towards the boy and then stumbles, crashing into him and knocking him to the floor.

The west London MP was left spread-eagled on the floor, too, but still clutching the ball.

A bewildered Toki said he suffered some pain but was soon up and running again.

He said: "I felt a little bit of pain but it's OK."

The schoolboy said it had been "enjoyable" meeting the mayor.

In a speech to the British and American chambers of commerce in Tokyo on the benefits of major sports events, Mr Johnson admitted that he had "flattened" the young boy and used the incident to draw parallels with the ups and downs of hosting the Olympic Games, which will be staged in Japan in 2020.

"We have just played a game of street rugby with a bunch of kids and I accidentally flattened a 10-year-old, on TV unfortunately," he said.

"But, he bounced back, he put it behind him, the smile returned rapidly to his face.

"That is my theme tonight - the possibility that confidence can suddenly and unexpectedly return."

It isn’t the first time Boris has had a sporting mishap with a schoolboy.

Last year, he tripped over a nine-year-old boy during a football match in London.

The mayor could be seen reaching for the football but managed to trip the child over instead.

The boy then fell over before eventually continuing to play.

The mayor was seen apologising to the youngster.

Back in 2006, Boris also launched a bizarre head-first tackle at former German international Maurizio Gaudino during a charity football match.

The strange tackle resulted in the mayor hitting his baffled opponent in the groin.

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