Rugby stars beat Colly 'to a pulp'

Stan Collymore was at the centre of a fresh controversy today after claiming he was set upon by six "merciless" rugby stars who left him with a broken nose and ribs.

The former Liverpool and Aston Villa striker said the players, from Bath rugby club, kicked and punched him until he was "unrecognisable" and drenched in his own blood.

The attack followed an argument in a Dublin nightclub in which Bath's South African player Robbie Fleck is claimed to have called him a "f***ing kaffir".

Princess Anne's daughter Zara Phillips was said to have been at Lillies Bordello nightclub with her boyfriend, Bath centre Mike Tindall, at the time - but there is no suggestion either of them was involved in the incident.

Collymore claims Bath captain and England World Cup hero Danny Grewcock was involved. But Grewcock is understood to have claimed he was only responding to alleged threats from Collymore.

Minutes before the row Collymore said he had been drinking with Pierce Brosnan and Cold Feet star James Nesbitt, who had appeared with him on an Irish television show.

Collymore, who left football three years ago at the age of 30, said: "It was sickening.

"What they did was way beyond anything I've ever experienced. They kicked me all over the street.

"I went to the ground at one point, but I managed to get up again. There were five or six of them, all just bashing me.

"I put my head in my hands to protect it. I was left covered in blood.

"I'm a big lad and I can look after myself, but there's nothing I can do against five or six blokes.

"One of the girls I was with got a clump in the face. They're just f***ing tossers. Racist, cowardly tossers."

Bouncers broke up the argument inside the nightclub, but fighting then erupted in a nearby Burger King restaurant several minutes later.