Rugby: Irish full-back O'Shea forced to quit
London Irish captain and former Irish international full-back Conor O’Shea has been forced to retire because of a persistent ankle injury.
The 31-year-old, who featured for Ireland in both the 1995 and the 1999 Rugby World Cups, first sustained the injury when he dislocated his ankle and broke his leg in a Premiership match against Gloucester just under a year ago.
He remained optimistic of making a playing comeback throughout his 11 months on the sidelines but after three operations on his ankle a consultation with his surgeon last week ended those hopes.
‘‘I saw the consultant last week, and basically he told me if I keep on going I will run into too much difficulty in the long term,’’ said the full-back, who joined the Exiles in 1995 and has since then made 127 first-team appearances for the club.
‘‘I have been told that now I have got continued loading of the leg through training which will potentially lead to further degeneration of my ankle.
‘‘I will be able to run, but twisting and turning and taking contact would not do my ankle any good at all. It could cause severe long-term problems.
‘‘I could keep on going. But it would have been getting into a vicious circle of rehab, operations, rehab, operations. That would have been the likely outcome, and when that is what my future holds there isn’t really a choice.
‘‘For me, that was not a risk worth taking. I had to think what state would I be in in 10 years from now and from what I could gather it would not be a good state.
‘‘It was the news I was expecting. To be honest, after the first operation I knew there was something a little bit wrong but I always hoped for the best.
‘‘I am hugely disappointed. It is not what I wanted to hear - but I hope new avenues will open up to me now.’’
O’Shea insists, though, that at the moment he has no intentions of severing his ties with Irish.
He has already joined the management board this season, helping player-coach Brendan Venter lift the Exiles into an unexpected third place in the Premiership.
He added: ‘‘I am going to continue on the management side for the foreseeable future and I am discussing matters with the club as we speak. For the last seven years this club has basically been my life.
‘‘I want this team to be a real success, and if I can help do that off the field I will do that.
‘‘In three years’ time if Ryan Strudwick, Declan Danaher or Kieron Dawson is lifting a trophy that will give me a great deal of satisfaction as it would if I was able to have done that myself.
‘‘That is what we’re all working towards here.’’
