Willie Duggan puts his arm around Ireland team-mate Tony Ward after the 12-9 Five Nations Rugby Championship defeat against England at Twickenham in 1984

Tony Ward the coach on the sidelines of a match

Tony Ward, Irish Independent rugby columnist and director of rugby at St Gerard's School, faced his toughest battle when he was diagnosed with cancer

Irish rugby legend Tony Ward has revealed for the first time how the last few years have been the "toughest and most stressful" of his life as he battled prostate cancer.

The Irish Independent rugby columnist said that he was diagnosed with the illness more than two years ago, but has decided to go public now in the hope that he can save lives.

In today's edition of Weekend Review magazine, Mr Ward describes in vivid detail how he learned of the cancer in the spring of 2012.

The father-of-four, who would undergo a marital separation as he battled the disease, said: "I began to notice that I needed to go to the toilet more often. It seemed like nothing sinister, and I did nothing about it.

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"That's typical of men. It takes a conscious effort by men to check on their health - it's all about the macho hunter nonsense that we are above vulnerability."

When he eventually visited his GP, it was his first check-up in six years.

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"My doctor gave me an inspection and immediately noticed there was something wrong."

He underwent a blood test to check his Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) level, often an indicator of a tumour or cancerous growth.

"I was told by my consultant that I was off the scale when it came to my PSA. The cancer had spread from my prostate like juice trickling out of an orange and it was a fairly virulent form of it."

Mr Ward who has 19 Ireland caps and was a British and Irish Lion, describes himself as a "natural worrier". But when it came to his shock diagnosis, he thought "c'est la vie".

"Throughout my life I have tended to get worried about the most minuscule irritants. And then, when I was faced with a life and death issue I managed to get things in perspective.

"My response was - hey, c'est la vie. It's another challenge. It's a battle. It's like trying to get on the Irish team, or trying to win a match."

But he added: "You couldn't say that the stress of separation caused my cancer, but it certainly didn't help."

Mr Ward underwent radiotherapy and is still receiving hormone therapy for the disease.

He urged people to go to the doctor and get themselves checked, reasoning: "it only takes an hour out of your day".

"The alternative doesn't bear thinking about," he said.

Irish men have a one in eight chance of developing prostate cancer. About 3,000 men are diagnosed with the disease every year.

See today's edition of Weekend Review magazine for the full interview.

Irish Independent