5 Instances Where Rugby Stars Played Through a Serious Injury

The fly-half entered the final Test for the Lions against the All Blacks in 2017 with a fractured wrist, suffered in the second Test, before rupturing a tendon in his ankle during the opening half of the decider in Auckland, reported the Irish Independent.

He damaged his wrist in the second half of the famous victory over the All Blacks, but strapped it up for the series decider.

After the 15-all draw, he underwent scans that revealed he also had a broken bone in his arm.

The England flankers mum was reduced to tears when confronted by the sight of her son gushing blood from a wound on his forehead in England's rout of France in 2019.

The image of Curry playing with his face and jersey covered in blood evoked memories of England defender Terry Butcher, who was similarly soaked during a World Cup qualifier against Sweden in 1989.

He played on and after the game it took 10 stitches to patch Curry up.

Aged 22, he cracker his skull around his right eye after a collision with Stirling Mortlock that also ended the Wallabies captain's match. Yet, remarkably, the Cardiff Blues centre stayed on the pitch for a further 15 minutes, even playing a part in the game's opening try, before succumbing to the pain.

The two-time Rugby World Cup-winning All Blacks captain, and most capped international of all time, had to hide a broken foot from the media, his teammates and even his coach, then Graham Henry, during the 2011 RWC.

He would not only play the rest of the semi-final, but also the final a week later and in doing so eeked out a famous victory against France to end a 24-year wait for World Cup glory in New Zealand.

We've saved the best for last here, with the story of former All Blacks captain Wayne "Buck" Shelford who suffered possibly the most horrific injury known to man in just his second international game. Be warned, this one is graphic.

During the infamous "Battle of Nantes" between New Zealand and France in 1986, Shelford first had three teeth knocked out of his head before suffering a concussion which knocked him out. But the worst was yet to come.

Early in the second half while trying to recover the ball from a ruck, a stray French boot ripped open his scrotum and left one of his testicles hanging out. Amazingly, Shelford was unaware of the fact until after the game, where he simply asked the team doctor to stitch him back together.

New Zealand lost the game 16-3, but it would be the only international game Shelford ever lost as a player. He went on to be a part of the New Zealand team that won the first ever Rugby World Cup and even captained the team for the three years that followed.