Striking the right note after injuries force rethink on rugby career

CELEBRITY FAN: NIALL BRESLIN,Singer, 28, Rugby

When did you first pick up a rugby ball?I think it was under-12s with Mullingar.

What position did you play?I started as a prop because I was a fat little runt, and then I got my growing spurts and ended up for a year as a winger and then I became a number eight and a six.

When did your representative career begin?I started playing for Leinster Youths, and then with the Irish Under-19s under Declan Kidney. When I came back from the under-19s, I got a scholarship with UCD, which was strange because at the time I was on the Westmeath football squad so I had to choose between Gaelic and rugby, and I choose rugby.

Did you play senior Gaelic football for Westmeath?That year I retired from Gaelic to take up a rugby scholarship I was on the Westmeath squad, and then when I retired from rugby I went back playing, the year Westmeath won Leinster, 2004, but I tore my hamstring in training.

What did you make of Páidí Ó Sé?He was very inspirational as a talker. You didn't see a whole lot of him. He flew in and took a session or two and left. Tomás Ó Flaharta was coaching there as well. They were really good coaches, but I had come from a professional set-up where players were looked after and they weren't over-trained; any injuries were looked after. I walked in and Tomás Ó Flaharta was: "Don't tell me you've a sore hamstring." I was: "Here, listen. I don't buy this: 'I'm from Kerry. There's no such thing as hamstrings'. It's one of the reasons I've had to retire from rugby. Don't tell me I don't have a problem."

How many times did you play for Leinster?I think I've about 23 caps.

Who was the best player you played against?Richie McCaw in a game for the Irish Under-21s in the World Cup in Australia. He got player of the tournament. You just knew he was in a different class to everybody else. He wasn't that big. He was incredibly aggressive but very intelligent. You very rarely saw him give away penalties, and that's really rare for a seven.

Why did you give it up?Everyone thinks it was music, which was the other love of my life, but the real, main reason was I went through this period of injuries – not serious injuries, but tearing hamstrings, quads, groin muscles – and I lost any confidence as a player. Basically I was afraid to sprint because every time I seemed to pin my ears back something tore. It just got really depressing. I looked at myself and spoke to my parents and they said, "You're only 23. You don't have to do this if you're not happy."

I wasn’t happy. I still loved it but for some reason . . . it wasn’t to be. I don’t regret it, but I do miss it.

How has the game changed since you finished being a pro?It's more about power, about being able to generate power in a two-metre radius – you know knocking someone on their arse. People are saying the rugby players are getting bigger. They're not really; they're just getting much more powerful. You're seeing number eights running as fast as wingers.

The guy I live with in London, Eoghan Hickey, plays for Wasps. He had a shoulder operation this season and the way he was rehabbed was just far superior. It’s the same in Leinster and Munster. The whole sport science and health thing has become priority. I remember I had to play a game for Leinster with pretty much a torn quad muscle. I could barely walk yet I felt I had to play the game – I was trying to prove myself. If that happened now, the physios would be: “Not a chance”.

What's the most unusual thing you've seen on a rugby pitch?I remember playing a game for Leinster with Niall Treston, who was the most promising prop in Ireland at the time, a fantastic player. I think it was a game against Ospreys in Donnybrook and his leg was beside my head. He'd fallen on his back and two guys ran in on either side of him and, didn't mean to, but hit his leg. I'll never forget just seeing the way his leg broke and the noise it made. Everybody on the pitch went white. I think there were one or two guys trying not to puke. I'll never forget it. It was either my head or his leg, and he never fully recovered.

Have you played recently?I played a game over here in a Sunday team just for the craic. It's funny when you haven't trained for a long time . . . I was coughing up my lungs after 10 minutes. I think I'm going to start playing Aussie Rules over here. It could be the perfect game for me.

• In a conversation with Richard Fitzpatrick