Ronan O'Gara: It feels like we’ve suffered a death in our family

Standing there, watching this mountain of a man, an indestructible soul, wired up in a hospital bed was something that will live with me. It makes me wonder how well I really processed October 2016 in Paris.

TOP FELLA: Ronan O'Gara celebrates with Uini Atonio after their victory in last year's Champions Cup Final over Leinster at the Aviva Stadium. Pic: David Rogers/Getty Images

I WANT to write today’s entire column about Uini Atonio. I understand it’s difficult for anyone at home to have a proper appreciation of what this great man is about but when we reach for easy phrases like ‘different gravy’ in sport and life, Uini Atonio is actually the exampla gratis. The embodiment.

Processing everything that has happened in the last week or so, and thinking back beyond it to what could have happened, makes for queasy feelings that are tough to articulate. Uini had pulled out of the French Six Nations squad with what was originally thought to be a sternum injury, but we now know it was a serious coronary problem.