Willie John hits out at modern-day rugby

LEGENDARY Ireland and Lions lock Willie John Mcbride has launched a scathing attack on the modern-day game.

Mcbride, a five-time Lions tourist who was known as one of the fiercest competitors of all time, has spoken out about how rugby now is nothing like the game he played and adores so dearly.

The 80-year-old, pictured, compared rugby now more to an unsavoury mixture of union, league and American football and took aim at a number of issues including skyrocketing injury rates, an over-reliance on replacements, crooked feeds at the scrum and the mechanics of the breakdown.

But two hot-button issues for Mcbride are the ease with which players change nationality and how, he claims, England allowing Premiership clubs ownership of their players has ‘killed’ the Lions tour.

“I find it disturbing the ease with which players can just switch their national allegiance,” he wrote in the foreword of a new book called Saving Rugby via Rugbypass. “It devalues international rugby.

“When Wales defeated Ireland 25-7 in the 2019 Six Nations, all the Welsh points were scored by two New Zealanders, Gareth Anscombe and Hadleigh Parkes. That can’t be right.

“If you play for Ireland, you should have Irish blood coursing through your veins. the residential qualification should be ten years and that would end players playing for a country when they have no immediate family connection.

“The one thing the Irish Rugby Union got right is that they own the players. England were stupid, as the RFU allowed the Premiership clubs to take control of the players. That has killed the Lions tour, which is very close to my heart and was a very big part of my life... I find it sad.

“The game today is all about money... I was so lucky to play in my era with so many great players.”