IT FELT LIKE A KILLER BLOW BUT I’M BACK
BY
IT was Paul O’connell who delivered the message that Dave Kilcoyne had been waiting a long time to hear.
And, having feared he would not get the necessary power back in his hand after a bad injury in last year’s Six Nations, Killer is focused on taking this second chance.
The Ireland squad were making their final preparations on Saturday morning when it was confirmed that Cian Healy’s hamstring ruled him out. “Paulie on the way out of
the ever had. I lost power down my hand through getting those disks shaved and it was unnerving at times, wondering would the power ever come back.
“It was a couple of months with the great S&C and rehabs coaches down in Munster and it just wasn’t coming and wasn’t coming, then all of a sudden it came.
“Once I saw a bit of light, I went with it and built myself back up and worked away to try get back in. So I’m feeling very fortunate to be in here.
“The saying, you don’t know what you have until it’s gone, that really resonates with me now.
“You’re out of the environment through injury or selection or whatever, then when you get the second crack at it to get back in, you want to take it with both hands and make sure you’re in here as long as you can be.”
The Limerick man (above) must surely have felt a long way from here when he was named by Andy Farrell in the Ireland ‘A’ squad in November. Nevertheless, his patience has paid off.
“You’re out for a considerable time, you’re looking on and seeing what the team is building, what Faz had built,” he said.
“Everyone talks about how good an environment it is here, and it’s not rubbish. It actually is a really enjoyable place to be, but that comes from the top down.
“It’s where you want to be, it’s an incredible environment, and a tough task this weekend against France and that French scrum, but a great place to be.”