Conor Murray has said rumours he had failed a drugs test "hurt" both himself and members of his family.
The Ireland and Munster scrumhalf missed the opening months of the season with what was revealed to be a neck injury, before returning to action last November.
And Murray has now discussed the "crazy" rumours surrounding his prolonged absence, as reported in the Limerick Leader.
The 29-year-old missed the autumun internationals, including Ireland’s famous victory over the All Blacks in Dublin on November 17th.
But he has said the hardest part of his rehabilitation was people speculating as to why he was ruled out: “The toughest part of this was the outside rumours that my friends and family would hear.
“Crazy stuff that I’d failed all sorts of drugs tests and they were just keeping it under wraps and letting me serve my ban. That kind of hurt a little bit.
“They were guessing what was wrong, and thinks I’m going to have to retire. It’s not nice hearing it for yourself, but then your family don’t really know either. They are seeing second hand information. It’s quite tough.”
Murray returned to action in Munster’s 32-7 win away to Zebre on November 25th. And it was the support of his provincial teammates which helped him cope during his five months on the sidelines.
He said: “It was the unity of my team. Munster would hear the same rumours and on Monday morning, they’d be slagging me about it, and make light of it straight away. Having a good team around you and a good head space is really important. It helps me.
“You hear a lot of players saying they don’t read the media or look at Twitter, but you can’t avoid it. If you don’t see it on your phone, your friends will say it back to you and it will affect you somehow.”
