A recent post on the All Blacks Tik Tok account which recounts a harrowing injury Shelford received against France in 1986 has gone viral on the platform with more than 1.6 million views in under 24 hours.
In the viral post, Shelford recalls how he lost three teeth after getting stuck at the bottom of a ruck but continued to play on. If that wasn’t bad enough, users on Tik Tok were shocked to learn what happened next.
“About 10 minutes into the second half, I got kicked in the nuts. And man did it hurt. I felt nothing of it and continued playing,” Shelford said.
The All Blacks suffered a rare 16-3 loss to France in Nantes that day, and Shelford continued to describe the mood in the dressing room.
“It is very morbid, very quiet after a loss,” Shelford said. “I had to get dressed, I stood up and pulled my strides down and one of the guys from across the room said ‘holy s**t, look at that!’, and one of my testicles had been ripped out of the scrotum and it was hanging between my legs.
“I went upstairs into a medical room and had it tidied up and put back together. These things do happen and you’ve just got to play on,” Shelford concluded.
View the full post and follow the All Blacks on Tik Tok HERE.