Warrior’s bravery and commitment has taken its toll

YOU could picture the counting of months on the fingers of rugby fans throughout Ireland as the news broke that Brian O’Driscoll was to undergo shoulder surgery.

There will be six long months without the Leinster star, taking us through the bulk of the Heineken Cup campaign and the entire 2012 Six Nations Championship.

Also, in January, O’Driscoll will celebrate his 33rd birthday and given the way the outside centre hurls his body around a rugby pitch, it is incredible that he has taken the field as often as he has.

“Mercurial” is the word often used to describe the rugby genius that is Brian O’Driscoll but “warrior” must be not too far behind.

Alas, the bravery, physicality and commitment to the Leinster and Irish causes that mark him out as an inspiration to team-mates and hero to fans, is finally exacting revenge on the great man’s body.

It has often been said that O’Driscoll has for a long time been held together with sticky tape, his battered shoulder patched up over and over from a succession of injuries suffered in the line of duty.

Now they have finally taken their toll and O’Driscoll will go under the knife to free a nerve in the joint that has suffered more than its fair share of trauma during his career.

With time running out on an illustrious career and an IRFU contract that expires at the end of next season, it might have been tempting to squeeze another few months of this campaign out of him and send him to the operating table next summer but that would have been a disservice not just to O’Driscoll but to Irish rugby as a whole.

Denied the opportunity of a glorious send-off at his final World Cup a month ago, O’Driscoll deserves to go out on a high. That means giving him the chance to get back into the best shape he can be for a final hurrah next season or just beyond it.

It also provides a perfect opportunity to continue developing his potential replacements in the Leinster and Ireland No13 jerseys.

Playing understudy to the great BOD has been no picnic at both provincial and international level and Leinster’s Fergus McFadden had to move out on the wing to get his game under Joe Schmidt last season, earning an Ireland cap out wide as a result.

McFadden spent most of the World Cup kicking his heels in the same understudy role and saw Keith Earls used as O’Driscoll’s direct replacement during the group game against minnows Russia, the young Leinster back once again consigned to the wing in Rotorua.

McFadden at least has a chance to show his worth at 13 during Leinster’s Heineken Cup pool campaign, which kicks off this weekend away to Montpellier and continues against Bath and Glasgow Warriors.

Earls, too, has his own injury concerns following the knee ligament damage he suffered for Munster in the opening minute of their RaboDirect Pro12 derby with Leinster at the Aviva last Friday and come the Six Nations the bandwagon to move winger Tommy Bowe inside to 13 will have gathered even more momentum.

Ulster’s rising star Nevin Spence will be putting his hand up for Ireland selection over the next couple of months, as will McFadden’s team-mate Luke Fitzgerald, considered unlucky by many not to have made Declan Kidney’s 30-man World Cup squad.

One thing is for sure. We will not see the likes of Brian O’Driscoll for a long time to come. But the reality is that Ireland need to groom a successor capable of performing successfully at Test level and with the next World Cup in mind in 2015.