Fire of ambition still Byrne's

Emmet Byrne's season is over. Next Wednesday the Leinster and Ireland prop will undergo surgery on his right shoulder. The rehabilitation period is four months and he has already been told to forget about making Ireland's summer tour to New Zealand.

Instead, his focus is on accompanying an Ireland squad to Poland to repeat last year's training camp. He will benefit from the fact that the Polish trip is not until late July, about one month later than last year.

Byrne has been desperately unlucky over the past 18 months. Last year he underwent an operation on his left shoulder -this time the damage is on the right. He conceded that it took him about 10 days to overcome the frustration and to get his mind focusing on the rehabilitation and remaining positive.

He thought that he had sustained the damage in the Test match against New Zealand at Lansdowne Road. To his surprise the surgeon, James Colville, informed him that it might have happened before then.

"He thought I might have dislocated the shoulder up to six months prior to that," Byrne says. "He suggested that because of the strength of the muscles surrounding the joint I might not have noticed it. I went for a scan last week and must admit that I thought I was going to be told that I was out for two or three more weeks.

"I had had an MRI scan immediately after the New Zealand match and it showed that I had torn a muscle in my shoulder. The prescribed cure was rest, which I did for two months and then came back to play for St Mary's in a club match against Carlow and it went again.

"At that stage I wanted to play because Leinster were in the knock-out stages of the European Cup and also the Six Nations was coming up. I went in for the scope last week - a second MRI had shown nothing - and what should have been a routine 20-minute operation turned into a two-hour one.

"He found that I had not only torn muscles but that I had chipped off a piece of bone the size of a small Brussels sprout and it had left a divot in the socket. I had also torn the cartilage away and so the damage was extensive. Next week I go in to have the shoulder pinned and that will require me to keep it immobilised in a sling for three weeks.

"After that I can start light rehabilitation. I asked him if I'd make the tour to New Zealand in May but he ruled that out completely. I also inquired whether I could play on and have the surgery later but that wasn't an option.

"Obviously it's very frustrating and took me a while to come to terms with it. But I have to be positive and concentrate my attention on getting the shoulder right again. I don't mind the rehab but you have to recognise that because I'm not playing that I'll slip down the pecking order in terms of the props and have to start again in the summer."

Byrne admits that while he is delighted to see Ireland doing so well it is hard to sit on the periphery. "I went down to see the guys before the Welsh match on the Saturday and the buzz was incredible. It's things like that remind you of why you play and enjoy the game so much.

"In looking for a silver lining, the surgery allows me an opportunity to rest mentally and physically and also the chance in the long term to get fitter and stronger. There is no point in dwelling on the negatives, you have to accept that these things happen and it is how you respond that matters."

At 28 years of age, Byrne knows that there is no need to rush back: Peter Clohessy offers the inspiration for those who look to the longevity of prop forwards. "The important thing is to get it right and to come back stronger and fitter. That is now my goal," Byrne says.

Those who know him have no doubt that he will be standing in line at Dublin Airport next July, ticket in hand, when the Ireland squad prepares to revisit Poland.