Dunne looking to better times

RUGBY: Andrew Dunne is passionate about rugby. It is that emotion which has sustained him through the bleaker moments, allowed him to retain a perspective when the despair of constant injury threatened to engulf him. John O'Sullivan talks to the Leinster outhalf as he recovers from his latest injury

In the last four years Dunne has played just over 40 matches when most of his contemporaries would have played three or four times that amount.

Since leaving school, the former Belvedere College outhalf has broken his arm, his leg, nearly severed a tendon in his foot, been knocked unconscious, dislocated his collarbone, had an ankle reconstructed and last week underwent shoulder surgery, all pursuing the sport he loves.

Tomorrow he celebrates his 23rd birthday, his shoulder in a sling, flummoxed as to what to do with his time over the four to six months required to rehabilitate from the shoulder surgery.

In the past, in his enforced exile from the pitch, he has been able to lean on the crutch of a life at college, UCD. Last December, Dunne had his Bachelor of Commerce degree bestowed upon him. The fact that it is now October means that enrolment for any academic pursuit is exactly that, academic; no late applications please.

"I've had some very low moments where the injuries have got in on me. The worst time was probably the most recent. I did my shoulder playing against Borders on a Friday and didn't have the scan until the following Tuesday. I knew it was serious but kept my fears private.

"I did wonder whether it was worth it, began to doubt whether I would ever have a career, worthy of the name."

During that time Dunne was consoled by his parents and former Ireland legend Ollie Campbell, to whom he turns for advice regularly.

He also drew on one other source of inspiration, a former school friend. Donal O'Flynn was paralysed from the shoulders down a few days after the Christmas of 1998 while playing for Belvedere College against a touring New Zealand school.

Dunne was away playing with the Ireland Schools that day. "Donal's attitude to life is truly inspirational and offers a perspective for the low moments."

It could all have been so different for Dunne, an outstanding schoolboy player to whom the game and honours came naturally. Having played for the Leinster Schools in the 1997-98 season, he captained them the following year: during the same time he played two years in succession for the Ireland Schools side. He also played for Ireland Under-21. He had the ideal identikit for an international outhalf - with the exception of physique.

In the last four years he has addressed this. "I have put on three stone since my school days and lead the way in some of the strength and speed tests now. Bigger guys than me get hurt, though possibly no one as frequently."

Dunne retains a sense of humour when cataloguing his medical history. Recalling the time he was knocked unconscious by Swansea's Scott Gibbs on a pre-season tour with Leinster, he ventured: "It was a dreadful late tackle. The ball was in Shane Horgan's hands after a miss pass by the time I was hit. That's the last thing I remember apart from the fact that at dinner that night I got sick all over (the then honorary secretary of the Leinster Branch) Sandy Heffernan's blazer.

"I mean, some of the injuries were bizarre. I slipped in a shower after the New Zealand game in Argentina and sliced my foot on a pillar. On another occasion - it was the longest run of games, in my senior career - I was playing for Old Belvedere, against Portadown, when my own second row fell on me, his hip hitting my shoulder, dislocating it.

"We were three games from the end of the season and leading Division Two of the AIL; I was the leading points scorer and that happens. There were times when I used to get injured only to be fit for the pre-season, play four matches and then be back for the next pre-season.

"I remember when I wrecked my ankle training with Leinster in October 2001. I had torn ligaments and a chipped bone but I played on because I was desperate to play. I came on five minutes from the end of the Toulouse match and had to refuse a kick to touch because my ankle was that bad. One of my team-mates came up and read the riot act but I so badly wanted to play.

"My experiences mean that I will never take anything for granted. The joy that I get by simply being out on a pitch is incredible. Nothing in life gives me the buzz I get from playing rugby, being out there on the big stage and trying to fulfil what talent I have been given."

His performance for Leinster in a Celtic League match last season earned rave reviews from Welsh legend Phil Bennett. Now all he wants is an opportunity. He deserves that much.