It’s been revealed Wales international scrumhalf Mike Phillips was fired by French club Bayonne back in 2013 after arriving at a team meeting intoxicated.

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Capped 94-times by Wales, the combative No 9 was dismissed by then club president Alain Afflelou in 2013 after two years at the club.

The club banned Phillips for one game – the Basque derby win over Biarritz – for misconduct, which was revealed later to be the Welshman breaking team protocol by being out late following a heavy loss to Toulouse.

Phillips rose to notoriety in South Africa during the 2009 British & Irish Lions tour of South Africa when he suggested the visitors were the better side despite losing the series.

‘We recruited players who did not want to fight’ said Afflelou in an interview with Midi Olympique. ‘We had brought in the Welsh scrumhalf … and I said that we could not play with “pochards” [boozers]

‘The guy was drunk all the time. In the aftermath of a stinging defeat in Bayonne, he even arrived drunk at the video session the next day. Not just a little, eh. Seriously drunk. There, I said stop and I fired him.’

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Following his sacking, the Welshman found a new home at Racing Metro.

‘Racing recruited him, which lacked a bit of class. But he didn’t spark off there either … they were spending crazy money at the time on the transfer market,’ added Afflelou.