Buck Shelford has recalled when suffered a ripped scrotum during a rugby match with New Zealand.
The former No.8 featured for the All Blacks in 1986 against France in a Test match that has been dubbed as the ‘Battle of Nantes’.
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Shelford [left] wasn’t afraid to get stuck against France in November 1986Credit: Getty
Shelford lost three teeth after being booted in the face and was then knocked out cold in the first-half… but continued playing.
You wouldn’t get that in football.
But it was during the second period of action in which he suffered a truly shocking injury, one that could be argued as one of the worst in sport.
He challenged for the ball against France man Daniel Dubroca, whose foot flew into Shelford’s scrotum and caused it serious damage – tearing the skin and exposing one of his testicles.
“He probably wouldn’t even remember but I was going for the ball over the top and he kicked me in the balls,” Shelford told The Telegraph.
“He probably didn’t realise it, but was it an accident? No, it wasn’t.”
Shelford unsurprisingly revealed that it ‘hurt like hell’ and added: “I was getting changed when one of the guys said, ‘Holy s***, look at that!’
“And one of my testicles had fallen out and it was hanging between my legs. The scrotum was all right after 16 stitches and the swelling had gone down.
“The head stuff, I was having headaches three months later. That was the biggest hit I have ever had in my life.”
Shelford’s injury has led many to believe he is one of the hardest men in rugby, but it’s a term that he has seemingly been left confused by.
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Shelford recalled when his scrotum was torn by a French player’s challengeCredit: TRACTA YouTube
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He miraculously played on but there was a bloody scene after the matchCredit: @allblacks TikTok
“What is hard? What does that even mean?” he asked. “When I was playing, you just played on until you literally could not carry on. That’s not hard, that’s just being there for your mates.”
Speaking further on the aftermath to New Zealand advertising agency Tracta, he said: “There was blood and there was bits of fat tissue down all over the place.
“I went and had a quick shower and then basically went upstairs into a medical room and got it all tidied up and put back together. These sorts of things do happen and you’ve just got to play on.”
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Whilst a torn scrotum is most certainly a horrific sports injury, it’s not the only time Shelford’s body took a beating on the rugby pitch.
His former All Blacks teammate John Kirwan revealed how he saw his exposed brain following a tough challenge against rivals Australia.
“I was standing next to him and I was obviously not dirty or anything, and one of the Australian guys opened up his head,” he told Sky Sport via RugbyPass.
“I saw his brain and then the blood started pulsating and I’m going, ‘Buck… I might get dirty’.
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Shelford is eyed as one of rugby’s tough guysCredit: Getty
“The doctor ran on and Buck said, ‘Give me some Vaseline’. The doc looked and said, ‘Nah nah. Nah mate, you need to get off the field, that’s really serious’.
“Buck said, ‘Give me some Vaseline, Doc’. Doc said, ‘Nah mate, that’s a big cut, you need to get off the field’.
“And Buck said, ‘If you don’t give me the Vaseline, Doc, I’ll carry you off the field’. So Doc pulls out the Vaseline and Buck whacks it on his cut and away we went.”
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