Russell Crowe was so horrified by an injury the captain of his rugby team suffered during a match - he sent a film crew into the operating theatre.

Roy Asotasi, who plays for the South Sydney Rabbitohs - which Crowe co-owns - suffered a torn pectoral muscle during a particularly violent clash on the field.

Crowe wanted to see how surgeons would fix his star player, so he sent a camera into surgery with him - and he's still deciding what to do with the footage.

The actor tells talk show host Jay Leno, "Rugby league It's like American football without the padding and helmet. Our captain got injured. His chest muscle on the right hand side was torn off the bone. We shot the operation and it was like the surgeon was fixing the plumbing. He had a drill, hammer and chisel out and he was whacking it a full strength. And because he knew we were filming it, he kept making these funny little asides." (IG/WNVLEN/MT)

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