Former Ireland rugby great Tony Ward has released an autobiography called Twelve Feet Tall which looks at the ups and downs of a career which saw him play in Munster's famous win over New Zealand and win European player of the year.
Tonight he joined Ger on Off The Ball to reflect on the key points of his career, including the 1979 Tour of Australia when he was dropped for fellow fly-half Ollie Campbell.
"Obviously there's still anger somewhere in me when I look back at that period in my life," he said.
"But I think I have rationalised it. I think what I put it down to is not so much being dropped and that did hurt at the time because I went out there on top of my game, in the best form of my life. I was actually playing well out there at the time. But I accept what happened because Ollie came in, played out of his skin, was the player of the tour and we won both tests.
"But I think what really gets me is the way everything was handled out there when I looked back at it at this stage of my life. Nobody ever came to me and explained to me why I was dropped. To this day, I don't know why. And it was a very different time in Irish rugby."
Tony Ward of Ireland ©INPHO/Billy Stickland
Detailing the lack of communication at the time - including from the team captain Fergus Slattery - he also said that: "the confident young player who went out there, never actually came back" and added that as a result he never felt he fulfilled his potential.
Discussing the tensions and correspondence with the IRFU blazers of his time, he had this to say to sum it up: "It was like the KGB. That's the way it was and that's what we accepted."
But he feels the organisation is "much healthier" now in comparison to his day and speaking of his wish to see current performance director David Nucifora "really imposing himself", he made one suggestion in terms of the spread of talent around the provinces.
"Leinster supporters aren't going to be happy with me but I'd love, for example, to see Ian Madigan go to Munster to develop his game. I just feel with Jonny Sexton back in Leinster and the young out-halves coming through, Ian's not going to get an awful lot of game-time. I think it would be good for Irish rugby."
Ward also looked back on Munster's legendary win over the All Blacks, his childhood, love of soccer and Leeds United, and rise to becoming regarded as Europe's best player.
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