Donal Lenihan: Two new hips and a new knee? Yep, I was one of the lucky ones

What price is too high to pay for a professional rugby career?

SUCCESS WITH A PRICE: English hooker Steve Thompson celebrates after winning the Rugby World Cup final at the Olympic Park Stadium in Sydney in 2003. Thompson now has no memory of the triumph.  Picture: Odd Anderson/AFP via Getty Images

The reunions tend to come around with a bit more regularity now. The older you get, the more you appreciate meeting up with team-mates from times past, be it from club, country, or at British and Irish Lions get-togethers.

The last such occasion involved a drive from Cork to Portballintrae, Co Antrim, a round trip of 1,034km for Michael Kiernan and I. If my first ever visit to the Giants Causeway left me somewhat underwhelmed — give me Slea Head any day — a tour of the Old Bushmills Distillery kickstarted a very enjoyable afternoon and late night with members of Irish squad that played at the inaugural World Cup in New Zealand and Australia 30 years earlier.