THERE WAS a sense of inevitability to yesterday’s announcement by David Wallace that his career has ended, beaten by constant pain in his knee. Following on the coat tails of Jerry Flannery and Shane Horgan, it was another reinforcement of the professional rugby player’s lot, an illustration of the limits of diaphene. Injury and pain always gets them in the end.

The Limerick-born flanker sustained the knee injury during Ireland’s pre-World Cup defeat to England at the Aviva Stadium last year. That match was to prove the last of the 72 Irish caps as he missed the 2011 World Cup and this year’s Six Nations Championship.

He will be missed by Ireland.

“You don’t get to win the things David won without being a very good player,” said Irish coach Declan Kidney. “David’s a fantastic team player, an intelligent man. I think in sport as in life the real achievement is to be as good as you can be. He did that throughout his rugby career and he did it both off the pitch in the way he dealt with highs and lows of the game.

“As a player he had the ability to play all the positions in the backrow. He was able to do the ball carrying. He was able to do the grafting. He had the athleticism for the lineout but he would roll up his sleeves and get into the grunt work if that’s what the team needed.”

Wallace did return but never really with threat or vigour. In March of this year he lined out for PRO 12 action with Munster for a trip to Aironi, one of only three appearances before yesterday. Despite being 35, the thought of retirement had never crossed his mind.

“I would have hoped to have played maybe two, three more years,” he said yesterday. “I think my age is just an arbitrary thing, it’s just a number to me. I didn’t feel 35, I felt like I did when I was 25 and there was no reason in my mind that I couldn’t play on for a good few more years.

“I just needed to give it a shot and see what it was like. I got to a certain level, but I was on diaphene to get through training and matches. If I came off it then I’d be limping around the place and it (the knee) would be quite angry. So it wasn’t sustainable for me to continue with that and I think there was probably a gradual realisation of where it was at; in some ways it wasn’t a massive shock to me.”

The final game of his career proved to be Munster’s Heineken Cup quarter-final defeat against Ulster last month, which also hammered home the fact players rarely have the luxury of choosing when or how they retire. But Wallace played in the Munster teams which won Heineken Cups in 2006 and 2008 and ended playing more than 200 matches for the province.

His Ireland debut came 12 years ago against Argentina in 2000 and he was also in Kidney’s team that bridged a 61-year gap with a Grand Slam win in March 2009. An indisputable highlight.

“For me that’s a no-brainer, something that created a bit of history,” he explained.

“Being part of that team was something very special and I will really relish that. With Munster, obviously the two Heineken Cups and I don’t know if I can emotionally distinguish between the two,” he added.

A dynamic flanker with pace, Wallace was an eye-catching ball carrier and one of the best in the game. Off pitch the 6ft 2in flanker was beguilingly gentle and relaxed. Some forwards ooze menace. Wallace does not. In the rough and tumble of media days, which players often see as a chore, he remained mild-mannered and approachable.

With older brothers Paul and Richard, he was also picked for the Lions tour to Australia in 2001 and played in all three Tests against South Africa in 2009. It was the first time three brothers had played for the Lions.

“It’s not the position I wanted to be in,” added Wallace. “But when I sit and think about it for any longer than five seconds it’s plain to me what the decision is and talking to medics, players, coaches, friends and family it’s very clear to me and that makes it quite easy mentally to make the decision.

“If I wasn’t comfortable with it or if I felt for a second I wasn’t doing the right thing, it would be a lot harder.

“Yeah, I feel I’m making the right decision and feel I’m at ease with it.”