Former Connacht and Leinster scrum-half Paul O’Donohoe says rugby players' careers will last for only “four or five years” in the future because the increased physical punishment in the game won’t allow for any more.
Speaking to The Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk today, the 27-year-old explained how his own career was cut short through injury and outlined his concerns for the future welfare of professionals.
“It is a tough, tough game,” O’Donohoe told Pat. “It’s only getting tougher. Lads are getting stronger. They’re so much better conditioned.
“I’d say going forward you’re going to look at NFL-style careers where guys are playing four and five years, as opposed to 10 or 15.
“You can see the impacts are so much bigger and lads are so much more powerful. It’s inevitable that guys are not going to be able to sustain that for 10 to 15 years. I’d imagine it’ll be a lot more short-term going forward.”
The Clontarf clubman was released by Connacht last summer. He suffering a back injury at Zebre which resulted in nerve damage in the previous season.
“The doctor advised that I didn’t continue,” he explained. “I had a couple of goes at going back to training … between the pain during and the lack of mobility, and afterwards I also had a lot of nerve referral. After a while I just wondered, was it worth it.”
He added: “Agility is the main part of your trade if you’re a scrum-half so it wasn’t great when you have a fella who can’t bend over and pick the ball up.”
The Dubliner says Pilates helps, and he now regularly partakes in boxing training, but the extent to which the lasting damage from his career in rugby affects him is significant. "Sometimes if I sit down too for too long my left leg goes numb," he admitted. "It’s kind of a case of managing it.”
The former Belevere SCT player has begun a new career as business developer with Indian entertainment and sports ticketing company Kyazoonga and says will also be involved in the launch of a coconut water sports drink next month.
“It was mixed feelings,” he says of his own retirement last summer. “It was sad in a lot of ways. Every kid thinks they’re going to be playing for the Lions like Johnny Sexton, and I thought I was going to be playing for Ireland but it doesn’t always work out that way.
“Professional sport is effectively a job but it’s also a way of life," he continued. "It is a little bubble that you're in. You’re always getting taken care of. And it is a bit of a culture shock when you leave that safety net.
“It wasn’t as if Joe Schmidt was banging my door down any time soon to play for Ireland - I could also see when you’re in your 30s you’re very disposal. You’re starting the second chapter of your life and you don’t know what direction you’re going in.
“I do love rugby but I don’t have the same love other guys have. Eoin O’Malley retired last year with a knee injury. He was inconsolable for a couple of months."
On the hot topic of concussion in rugby, O’Donohoe added: “Concussion is obviously a massive elephant in the room maybe it’s being published more now. Lads in later life may see the repercussions of it.”
Listen to Paul O'Donohoe's interview with Pat Kenny here:
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