Toulon coach Patrice Collazo said Rhys Webb had been disloyal after the Wales scrumhalf was sacked by the French club in January.

Register your interest for the British & Irish Lions tickets in South Africa 2021

Webb, 31, who left the Top 14 outfit after announcing he was to return to home region the Ospreys at the end of the season and would be eligible for the national side for the Six Nations, claimed last month he had been frozen out by the three-time European champions.

"I feel loyalty goes both ways. It's something I can't go back on. No player is bigger than the club. We did a lot for him," Collazo told newspaper Var Matin on Saturday.

"We had to negotiate his immediate and definitive departure to protect the team," he added.

The British and Irish Lions half-back was unable play internationally when he originally signed for the Stade Mayol side in 2018 as he had 60 or fewer caps for Wales. After leaving Toulon he was recalled to the national team.

"As soon as I was selected for Wales they defriended me," Webb told the BBC's Scrum V podcast on April 30.

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

Collazo, who had a playing career in France and England, said Webb had denied he wanted to leave the Mediterranean coast a year before the end of his contract despite rumours linking him with an English Premiership side.

Webb, who joined Bath on a short-term deal, said former president Mourad Boudjellal and now majority owner Bernard Lemaitre went behind his back in the local media.

Former La Rochelle coach Collazo said his behaviour with Webb was honest, as it was with other squad members such as Rugby World Cup winners Eben Etzebeth, Julian Savea and Liam Messam.

"When I have something to say to a player, I tell it to him," Collazo said.

"To finish, I remind you that a lot of great players have played for Toulon who have been happy to leave their mark on the field, which is the mark of a great player. Not in the newspapers or on the treatment table."