One of the Giants of the Game but his name barely raised a titter.
John Hayes was one of 20 rugby legends invited to take part in the official Rugby World Cup opening ceremony at Twickenham this evening.
‘The Bull’, who retired from the game in 2012 after a hugely successful career, was joined on the pitch by former greats such as Sean Fitzpatrick, Shane Williams and Pat Lam.
There may not be a lot of Irish fans in ‘Twickers’ tonight but that still doesn’t explain the luke-warm reception Hayes got.
We are not exaggerating when we say Georgia’s Ilia Zedginidze and Japan’s Daisuke Ohata got bigger cheers than the Munster great.
https://youtu.be/xEPFxxSW0BY
Perhaps the home fans in the ground were aware of Hayes’ superior winning Test record over their country.
In 10 Tests against England, Hayes won seven times.
The show was stolen by former England captain Martin ‘Johno’ Johnson, who was given a raucous reception.
