"Proper kick in the b-------" - Austin Healey slams disloyal George Ford

The 28-year-old, capped by England on 77 occasions, has signed a three-year deal to move to the AJ Bell Stadium.

"We already knew loyalty is dead in professional sport but George Ford’s move to Sale Sharks confirms it," wrote Healey in his column for the Telegraph.

"I think it is a bizarre move, in all honesty. He has been back at Leicester Tigers since 2017 and, because of his England omission, this is the first season he has spent with the club actually earning his money. And he has marked it by deciding to leave.

"There are obviously family reasons attached to it, but I find it a bit strange that he has opted to move away from a side that has been paying him such high wages for only playing 15 games a season."

In that light, here are the most disliked English rugby players in the history, in the opinion of other nations diehard supporters.

Wales Online: "Snarling, punchy and prone to reading extracts from Henry V in the dressing room, Moore represented everything Welsh fans loved to hate about that England team from the mid-90s."

Wales Online: "The "Blackpool Tower", as he liked to be known, really helped himself in the popularity stakes by breaking the cheekbone of Welsh forward Phil Davies during a game at the Arms Park in 1987"

The England captain fits the label “our guy” better than most, meaning you love to hate him unless he’s in your squad. Then you’d go to the end’s of the earth to defend him.

Farrell, also known as ‘Shoulder boy’ for his high tackling, does himself no favours with his poor tackling technique.

Wales Online: "It seemed unlikely when he retired that Healey would manage to become even more annoying as a pundit than he was as a player. But, somehow, he's achieved it. Great job."

Wales Online: Could it have been anyone else? I'm sure he isn't a bad guy, but he was the pantomime villain when the two teams clashed for a long time.

In his own words, the fullback is a ‘marmite player’ with fans either loving or hating him. A skinhead who enjoys confrontation is not the traditional mould for an England No15.

He played with the annoyance of someone who's read plenty of literature chastising the English and wants to shove it up the noses of the Queen's enemies.