Gerry Thornleyon the injury-blighted recent career of Alan Quinlan, who is back in Munster red and did at least play a cameo role on their big day

The man who saved Irish rugby hasn't exactly been reimbursed over the intervening three years. In the very act of scoring the only, decisive try in Ireland's priceless 16-15 win over Argentina in their pivotal pool match of the 2003 World Cup, Alan Quinlan ruptured a shoulder, and he has spent more time recovering from operations than on playing fields since. It hardly seems fair.

The ensuing 2003-2004 season having been a write-off, he managed a couple of appearances as a replacement in the summer Tests in South Africa, and two more against Japan in the summer of 2005 while the Lions were away. In last season's Heineken European Cup opener away to Sale, he suffered a cruciate knee-ligament injury and spent five-and-a-half months recovering in time to play four minutes of Munster's celebratory final.

Quinlan had felt back to his best at the start of last season, a really good pre-season followed up by big performances, notably in the Celtic League win over Leinster. The Tuesday after the Sale game he was under the surgeon's knife. Brian Green, the IRFU's highly regarded physiotherapist, took the trouble to attend the operation, which was performed by Dr Ray Moran.

Thereafter, Green went above and beyond the call of duty in travelling down to Limerick every week to oversee Quinlan's rehabilitation, in tandem with the Munster physios Kirsty Peacock and Fergal O'Callaghan, Green often staying in Quinlan's house.

"I owe him a lot," says Quinlan, who admits Green and the Munster medical and coaching staff - even more than team-mates - became regular shoulders to lean on.

"You're not going rugby training, you're on different schedules and times to everyone else. Obviously, you meet the guys in the gym and different things, but you are isolated. It's a new world, if you like, and it's a difficult place to be but I was really determined and focused."

It helped that he's not a bad "watcher", especially, like the rest of us, of Munster matches in the European Cup, and Declan Kidney ensured Quinlan went on the away trips as well.

He owed his team-mates just as big a debt, however, for he immediately set a goal that if Munster made the European Cup final, he'd make it there. People told him he was mad. A Liverpool fan, he looks at Michael Owen's recovery from the same injury and admits his return in five-and-a-half months was a hell of an achievement, although he was lucky there were no complications.

Rarely has so much effort been put in for such "little" reward, but it would have been cruel on Quinlan, a replacement in the 2000 final and a starter in 2002, not to have made it. To his frustration before, and even since, he's had his share of bench duty with both Munster and Ireland, but not this time.

"I think I was the happiest sub in the history of sport," reflects Quinlan.

"It was quite difficult, too, because Stephen Keogh was the unlucky one to lose out and he's a great friend of mine," recalls Quinlan, reflecting on the Thursday-night team meeting before the final when they were told the line-up. "It was devastating news for him and my heart went out to him."

He regarded himself as lucky, but team-mates told him it was down to his hard work. Ronan O'Gara, for one, kept telling him that and reminded him of the bad luck he'd had before.

He says he's rarely felt as relaxed as the day of the final. "I didn't feel any nerves, I was so happy. To be part of the whole thing, going on the bus beforehand, being part of the team build-up.

"It was just an amazing experience, and one I wanted to cherish. I couldn't really remember much about the 2002 final. I don't really remember too much about matches, I guess, because I'm probably a bit too intense, but that day I was so happy and excited to be a part of it."

Until, that is, Jerry Holland motioned to him five minutes from the end and told him he was coming on. "I was shocked," Quinlan admits. "I just couldn't believe I was on the field. It was a really strange feeling after what I'd been through."

He laughs when thinking of his contribution. "I made no tackles, no carries; I went to about three or four rucks, and that was it. But I wasn't too worried about that. I wasn't looking back on my stats. I was just so happy at the final whistle, to feel a part of it.

"I'd been involved in so many great days and heartaches, but I still didn't feel I had a divine right to be there, especially when you look at those such as Frankie (Sheahan) who were unlucky to lose out. I thought about him at the final whistle, but I was proud of the fact I had worked so hard for it and this was a great reward for it. And I had been a part of it, and I'd hate to have missed out completely on the day we finally won it."

One of the first text messages he received when he returned after the full-time whistle to the dressing-room was from Green.

"I think he had been more nervous than I was."

Honed out of Munster granite, he has rugby in his blood. His father, John, and late uncle Andy (whose own son David has captained Shannon, Buccaneers and the Ireland club team) were the big influences. They played with his hometown club, Clanwilliam, in Tipperary town, where he started off at six years of age with elder brothers John and Andy. Then there are his cousins, one of whom, Ian, still plays with the junior team. Quinlan helps out when he can with coaching, something he sees himself doing more of when he's finished playing.

For all its triumphs and despairs, he still counts himself as lucky to be paid to do something he loves, and has a new two-year national contract with the IRFU.

"I wish I was seven years younger, to be starting out now," the 32-year-old says, but he feels fortunate to have experienced the last few glory years of amateur club rugby, for Shannon, and believes club rugby was the making of both him and Munster.

He's a rough diamond, who admits he still needs a bit of polishing at times. You nonetheless get the impression that Quinlan, à la Roy Keane, has played some of his best stuff when angry.

"I've been in a few scraps throughout my career. I suppose I've played on the edge a bit and at times I've played well like that, but I'd like to think I've calmed down a bit as I've matured a bit."

He realises what he's said and has to chuckle: "Lots of people would laugh at that."

He was one of the unused members of the Irish squad in the summer, and as is so often the way in the ultra-competitive environment of both the Munster and Ireland back rows, one man's misfortune is usually another's opportunity. Quinlan's injury allowed an opening for David Wallace, whose provincial and international careers have been rejuvenated. Now it is the absence of Anthony Foley, part of the Munster furniture for the last decade, which has helped give Quinlan his current run in the Munster team.

The last few seasons have tailored his outlook. "I haven't had a decent run of games or had much luck since then (2003); I just want to enjoy my rugby and make up for a bit of lost time," he says, and you understand exactly where he's coming from.

The recent, dramatic second Ashes test in the Adelaide Oval stirred memories of that taut win over Argentina, which provided him with one of the highs and one of the lows of his career virtually within seconds, at a time when he was playing the best rugby of his career.

As for Ireland, he has a long way to go, and wasn't even in the A squad against Australia A, with the likes of Neil Best, Stephen Ferris and Roger Wilson overtaking him in the back-row pecking order along with Denis Leamy, Wallace, Simon Easterby and Jamie Heaslip. At his best, being moved up and down the line while relatively easy to hang in the air, making his big hits or his big plays, he has plenty to offer, and still looked like a missing link early last season.

Verily, as Quinlan's case underlines more than anybody's, you cannot afford a limp if you're an Irish backrower, but a two-year deal with the IRFU was a praiseworthy statement of faith by the union.

"The day I go to training and I don't want to be there will be the day I'll be honest with myself but I do feel I still have a lot to offer. I'm hopeful I can get back to where I was and I'm as hungry as I ever was.

"I'm not under any illusions and I realise I'm pushing on a bit, but I would hope the few years I've had out with the injuries will give me a bit at the other end. I look after myself and I don't want to look back on my career with any regrets."

He deserves that much.