Sean O’Brien has had almost 20 invasive surgical procedures in his eight-year career as a senior rugby professional.
The Leinster flanker will feel the effects of his commitment for the rest of his life. There are no guarantees he – or anyone else in the Ireland team – will make it to the 2019 World Cup.
Stephen Ferris (28), Johne Murphy (30), Felix Jones (28), Rory Watts Jones (26), Ben Afeaki (26), Damien Varley (30), Craig Clarke (30), Kevin McLaughlin (31), Eoin O’Malley (25).
A small sample of the rugby players forced out of the game they love.
The desire and will was there. The body was not able. It was not safe to do so.
These names – Irish, Welsh, Kiwi – are the lucky ones. They forged successful rugby careers and can all look back with pride on their achievements.
Trophies, overseas tours, Test caps, tries in front of sell-out crowds. Out of all that, getting past 30 is the greatest achievement of all.
Sitting at Stade de France, in February of this year, I witnessed, first-hand, what happens when money takes precedence over the health and safety of players.
The 2016 Six Nations was shoe-horned into 41 days. Five brutal, unrelenting Test matches in seven weeks.
The list of players that didn’t make it to the end of the tournament went on forever. A who’s who of unlucky bastards.
Ireland were forced to play on a Sunday against Wales, get on a plane a few days later, and play France the following Saturday. You knew there would be injuries. You knew.
The game claimed Sean O’Brien [hamstring], Dave Kearney [shoulder] and Mike McCarthy [concussion]. Jared Payne played on with a double tear of his hamstring. Johnny Sexton went off nursing his shoulder after being head-hunted throughout the match.
I sat there as the medics and stretcher-bearers polluted the pitch and thought, ‘We are destroying these young men’.
Joe Schmidt and Rory Best were both asked about the six-day turnaround. Schmidt did not want to complain, especially after a loss, but noted the day of travelling did not help preparations. Best’s reply?
“We knew it was coming.”
Era of the twentysomethings
Earlier this season, concussion forced former Leinster and Ireland flanker Kevin McLaughlin to end his career. A reflective McLaughlin told me:
“If you look at the game 10 years ago, there were not that many high intensity matches. Now we have them every week, especially with the guys who play all the international games. It is, physically, very demanding and draining.
“As a forward, getting to play to 31 or 32 is a good career now. On the flip side, guys are starting their [professional] careers earlier. They come out of school and they are almost ready to go; guys who are 20, 21. They can almost play international level.”
Every week, journalists get updates from each of the provinces. The ‘injured/unavailable’ list is always double figures. Ulster Rugby’s medical director Michael Webb says each province operate on the basis that 20-30% of their squad will be injured. At one stage, that figure topped 43%.
This is why we are hearing more and more about young talents coming through. As Brian O’Driscoll commented, last week, professional rugby is now a 40-50 man game.
Former Ireland Under-20 coach Mike Ruddock believed most Irish players do not hit peak physical maturity until a couple of years after he had them under his charge. There are freak physical specimens – James Ryan and Ultan Dillane come to mind – but Irish players are late developers.
Their time is now, however.
Ultan Dillane for the 2017 Lions? Stephen Jones thinks so https://t.co/DKkhI4IjD1
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) March 20, 2016
Joe Schmidt is not capping players fresh out of the academies for no reason.
No matter what his contract says, the New Zealander has his sights set of the 2019 World Cup. To do so, Schmidt is looking to shape a new spine to a team he led to two Six Nations titles.
During the last championship, Schmidt capped Dillane (22), Finlay Bealham (24), Stuart McCloskey (23) and Josh van der Flier (22). Robbie Henshaw (22) and Paddy Jackson (24) have been in the international set-up for over three years.
Dillane made three appearances off the bench for Ireland and played with a wanton abandon that only players in their twenties show. Only players that have not been broken up and broken up again.
Dillane made one reckless carry against Italy that stood out. Head up, chest puffed, he charged head-first at three Italian forwards. Both feet left the ground before he made shuddering contact for a two-yard gain. As George Bernard Shaw opined, youth is wasted on the young.
Modern rugby is following the path tread by GAA.
Twentysomethings will be the future with a mere handful of players over 30 there for the craft and experience. The front and second rows will be the last hiding place for the 30-plus players.
For now, there is some sense.
There was a clamour to get Garry Ringrose into the Ireland team for the Six Nations. Twenty-one years old and brimming with precociousness, and line breaks.
Still, Schmidt resisted the temptation – and he was tempted – in favour of allowing Ringrose to remain with Leinster. He felt the young centre would find it tough going in an arena where midfield runners are nigh on 17-stone and well over 6-foot-2.
Injuries happen in every sport. It is a fact of life. Promising careers are cut short at 21, 28, 30, 37… Young or old, there is no escape from bad fortune.
Sean O’Brien is 28 years old. He once played like Dillane but he can’t any more. He has had to dial back the ferocity.
The stats do not lie, however. The average rugby retirement was 32 in 2007. It is now a shade under 31. Expect it to drop further over the next decade.
Rugby does not look like slowing down – Super Rugby and The Rugby Championship have expanded and the PRO12 looks like following suit. The EPCR and SANZAAR are in talks about the Champions Cup and Super Rugby champions facing off in a world championship club game.
For a start, I would like to see midweek contact limited at training sessions – a maximum of full-on session per week. World Rugby is already looking at amending the tackling laws to make it safer. If it does so, there should be a huge awareness and training campaign rolled out to back it up. The money is certainly there.
While we’re at it, ban the chop tackle and the heads-up tackle [Johnny Sexton’s favourite].
Limiting a rugby season to nine months – including pre-season – should be imperative. Bodies and minds are being drained and need time to recover.
Instead, what we have is negligence. Many of the Irish players that play South Africa in June 2016 will have began their season in late June 2015. 11 and a half months of the hardest slog imaginable.
The French rugby union [FFR] are going so far as to discuss proposals, in the coming days, about reducing the Six Nations schedule by a further week.
Modern rugby is demanding more and more.
We are losing great players but academies are producing hundreds and hundreds more.
Free range players, next for the chopping block.
