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'Defriended' Wales scrumhalf 'sour' after Toulon exit

Wales scrumhalf Rhys Webb said on Thursday he was frozen out by Toulon's hierarchy, leaving him feeling bitter about his departure from the French club earlier this year.

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Webb, 31, was sacked by the Top 14 outfit in January after announcing he was to return to home region the Ospreys and would be eligible for the national side for the Six Nations.

The British & Irish Lions halfback was unable to represent his country when he originally signed for the Stade Mayol side in 2018 as he had 60 or fewer caps for Wales.

"As soon as I was selected for Wales they defriended me," Rhys told the BBC's Scrum V podcast.

"It just went a bit sour. That's how it is."

Webb, who made two Six Nations appearances, said he was made to train alone and was dropped from the Toulon side a day before a league fixture when reports in Wales claimed he would be available for international selection.

"I was supposed to play on the Saturday for Toulon. On the Friday we were doing the team run and it must have come out in the press then and Toulon pulled me out of the team run, swapped me out and I never played again," the 35-time Test scrumhalf said.

Webb said he disliked former president Mourad Boudjellal and now majority owner Bernard Lemaitre's behaviour.

"They did all their talking straight to the French media. They didn't have the decency to talk to me face-to-face," he added.

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