Buckley bouncing back from the ‘lowest of the low’

YOU’RE a professional rugby player, a tight-head prop, hyped as the next big thing in your position, gradually pushing at club and national level the legend whose jersey you intend to take.

It’s the beginning of a new season, pay-off time, and suddenly, without warning it all implodes. From explosive man mountain – 6’5” and 20st 7lbs of raw aggression – you are reduced to a mountainous mass. No energy, no power, no strength, and the criticism starts to mount.

For Munster’s Tony Buckley last season it was the worst of times, until finally the fault was found.