‘I’m a GP now but when it comes to rugby I suffer from an inability to shut up at times’

Purpose in a pandemic

With the sudden end to their work there is a higher rate of depression among retired athletes than the general population and my decision to go back and study medicine in my mid thirties gave me a purpose and protected me from this. Harnessing determination and spirit

I went to Kings Hospital, not one of the traditional rugby schools, but it had an excellent framework to develop players led by Caleb Powell who went on to be president of the IRFU.

I would have been a bit of a dreamer, not especially diligent, but if something caught my attention, like rugby did, I was able to completely zone in.

When I left school in 1991 I joined Wanderers with the under-19s. It was a great year as we only lost one game and won the McCurrie cup.

At the time, Wanderers were in the second division so I had to make the move to Mary’s which worked out great. Rugby was still an amateur game and I was studying engineering in Kevin Street which I finished. I hate starting something and not seeing it through.

Mental preparedness

I’ve had two important mentors: Roly Meates, a very good scrum mentor early in my professional career and, at Wanderers, the late Jake Howard.

There is always doubt you have the ability when you have a pathway in front of you and Jake was a master at quelling any uncertainty I felt. He was a brilliant communicator and reader of people and he bolstered great confidence in me.

In 1995, when overnight rugby became a professional sport, my plan to become an engineer was set aside. It felt like winning the lottery; being paid for something I previously did for free.

Understanding how to be a professional took time. In competitive sport you can’t afford to do anything without a purpose towards winning. So, on a player level and for Leinster as a professional outfit, there was a process of constant refining going on.

As part of trying to improve myself, I studied strength and conditioning with the National Strength and

Conditioning Association (NSCA). When I retired, the Australian coach Michael Cheika offered me a job training and conditioning for Leinister, and I was sorely tempted. Overriding this was the desire to study medicine, which came out of nowhere and was a defining moment for me. My NSCA studies had sparked an interest in health and the example of two Leinster doctors – the late Arthur Tanner and Jim McShane – were inspirational for me. Although I had reservations with the length of the course, once I set my sights that was it.

Under pressure

Every player develops their own coping mechanism and mental preparation techniques. Being physically fit isn’t enough to produce the goods.

Playing in the front row is very confrontational. Getting the balance right between what was best for me and the team, not making it overly personal, was a struggle for me at the start and I had to learn to see the bigger picture. Accident not design When a phone call came out of the blue from Gary Lennon at Setanta Sports to do some media work, I said I would not be any good at that. When I hung up, my father who was sitting beside me, told me to not be a clown and give it a go. When Gary rang back I went in for an interview and I discovered I relished talking about the game.

Live TV or radio has to be interesting. I discovered what suited me best by accident. I could be very nuanced in the biomechanics and breaking down the moves so going into detail was my style. The couple of times I tried to force a joke it landed like a lead balloon.

The media work also requires the quick brain reaction time like when on the field. I learned to think on the hop like when Marty Morrison threw a curveball question at me on the likely treatment for Brian O’Driscoll, who was out of sorts before a Six Nations game. I had to come up with something plausible because I knew doctor friends were listening in.

I had too much going on in my first year of medicine at the Royal College of Surgeons in 2007 as this was my busiest time in media. I was contracted with Setanta and working for RTÉ and Newstalk. I was also coaching at Wanderers and something had to give.

I stepped back from the coaching, though I loved it. Even at amateur level, which is just as fulfilling, it takes up a huge amount of time. Like buying a dog – you have to be ready for it.

More prevention less intervention

My partner is also a GP and the most challenging time we had was back in March when the creche closed. Covid has brought more virtual consultations but sitting face-to-face will always be more important and the pandemic has not brought a huge difference in my working day.

General Practice was always what I wanted to do as I wanted to work on disease prevention.

We had another baby at 3am last Thursday. Charlotte is a sister for our child Zoe who is 21 months old and parenthood has simply knocked me over with happiness. Post-mortem

I would not rule out going back to coaching in some form when I have time.

When it comes to rugby, I do suffer from an inability to shut up at times. The biggest fear for a rugby player is being pinned to a bar by a drunk fan wanting to talk tactics but these scenarios tend to end with me burning the ear off the other fella who is desperate to escape.