Rugby player Haydn Peacock, 23, discussed a tackle during a match in February where a defender nearly ripped off his penis. Peacock said he played the rest of the half before receiving 11 stitches, and returned to play the next game without a protective cup. Photo by haydnpeacock1/Instagram

CARCASSONNE, France, March 15 (UPI) -- An Irish rugby player detailed the circumstances surrounding a tackle that he said nearly caused him to lose his penis.

Haydn Peacock, 23, shared a photo to his Instagram showing a defender pulling at the area as he played in a match for France's AS Carcassonne.


"[Rugby league] is definitely not a sport I recommend," he said of the incident that occurred in early February. "11 stitches later for the little fella but she'll be right."

About a month later Peacock has returned to the field and provided some insight on the injury in an interview with French Footy.

The injury occurred in a scrum during the first half of a match against the St. Esteve Catalans Dragons, when a player grabbed Peacock's penis and pulled it toward the ground as he attempted a tackle.

Peacock played out the rest of the half before inspecting the injury at half-time when he was taken in to receive stitches.

"They had to go and get the UTC doctor and he came in and checked it out and he was like, 'Oh man, you're going to have to go and get stitches,'" he said. "So I had to go to the clinic that night and they had to put 11 stitches around it to put the skin back together."

He remained relatively unfazed by the incident, joking with his teammates about it, and returning to play the next game without any kind of protective equipment.

"I remember I had to strap it all up for the next game. I just had to go around it. The coach wanted me to go out and buy a cup but I'm not going to play with a cup, I'm not going to be able to run," he said. "I just had to heavily strap it. It's all good [now]. I got the stitches out and it's all sweet. No dramas."