Former England star had ‘half his eye hanging out and teeth out his face’ after sickening training ground accident

LAWRENCE DALLAGLIO has revealed Simon Shaw once showed up a team of Premier League stars - by returning to a training game with his "eye hanging out". Dallaglio spent his entire rugby career with Wasps and made 85 appearances for the Red Rose. The legendary flanker won the World Cup in 2003 and was seen as one of the toughest players of his generation. But Dallaglio revealed it was Shaw who embarrassed a group of QPR players - by playing through a horror injury in training.

Speaking to the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, he said: "When I was at Wasps, we had to share a training ground with QPR. "I think Ian Holloway was the manager at the time. "We were training together and of course it was a wet miserable day. "Half the QPR players are in the physio room like that [shrivelled up]. "Simon Shaw comes in with a training accident - he has got half his eye hanging out and teeth out his face.

"He gets stitched up by the physio and is back out training again within five minutes. BEST FREE BET SIGN UP OFFERS FOR UK BOOKMAKERS. "It’s just different [between football and rugby].". Shaw, an imposing lock who stood 6ft8 and tipped the scales at nearly 20 stone, played 15 seasons at Wasps. The 51-year-old earned an MBE alongside Dellagio after winning the World Cup in 2003. But Dallaglio admits his combative style of rugby would not be suited to the modern game.

He continued: "The game that we played in rugby, violent acts of thuggery were applauded. "If I played the modern game of rugby now, I’d be sent off every week. "Rugby needs to change in my opinion. Formula One is a tough sport and there are risks. "Even being a jockey – there’s some serious risks there. "MMA is basically two thugs in a ring beating the c**p out of each other and the clips go viral.

"Rugby has this obsession with showing head-on-head collisions in slow motion, live on television and at the stadium. Round 1. France v Wales | January 31 at 8.15pm | ITV. Scotland v Italy | February 1 at 2.15pm | BBC. Ireland v England | February 1 at 4.45pm | ITV. Round 2. Italy v Wales | February 8 at 2.15pm | ITV. England v France | February 8 at 4.45pm | ITV. Scotland v Ireland | February 9 at 3pm | BBC. Round 3.

Wales v Ireland | February 22 at 2.15pm | BBC. England v Scotland | February 22 at 4.45pm | ITV. Italy v France | February 23 at 3pm | ITV. Round 4. Ireland v France | March 8 at 2.15pm | ITV. Scotland v Wales | March 8 at 4.45pm | BBC. England v Italy | March 9 at 3pm | ITV. Round 5. Italy v Ireland | March 15 at 2.15pm | ITV. Wales v England | March 15 at 4.45pm | BBC. France v Scotland | March 15 at 8pm | ITV. "We need to understand that the risks are there, but you [as a player] know what you’re signing up for.