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Ex-Wallabies prop details childhood abuse

Former Wallabies prop Tony Daly has outlined the sexual abuse he experienced as a child at one of Sydney's top rugby nurseries.

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Former Wallabies prop Tony Daly has outlined the sexual abuse he experienced as a child at school. (AAP)

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Source: AAP


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World Cup-winning former Wallabies prop Tony Daly has revealed the childhood sexual abuse that 'robbed me of my innocence and normal life'.

The revelations came in an interview published in the Daily Telegraph one day after the former front-rower avoided jail for a series of theft and driving offences, which he says were sparked by the attacks which began at Sydney's St Joseph's College when he was 11 and ended two years later.

"The boarding school was the launch pad of what has gone wrong in my life. I've stuffed up two marriages, I was drinking a lot, abusing substances, I've been all over the shop for years."

Daly was on Tuesday sentenced to a total of 500 hours of community service and banned from driving until 2024.

Speaking after being interviewed by the Royal Commission into child sex abuse, Daly said he remembered the events 'with crystal clear detail'.

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Daly, who played for his country on 41 occasions, formed perhaps Australia's most lethal front-row combination with former Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie and hooker Phil Kearns, and scored one of his four Test tries in the 1991 Rugby World Cup final win over England.

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