Former Ireland second row Mike McCarthy has called time on his career on medical advice after the 35-year-old sustained an elbow injury.
The Leinster man, who was set for a move to Narbonne, in France’s second tier this summer, has not played for a month due to a combination of back and elbow injuries.
And after closer inspection of his elbow, he was advised to hang up his boots and call time of a career that included 19 caps for Ireland.
The lock played eight times in the RBS Six Nations, making his debut against Scotland in March 2012, a game Ireland would go on to win at Landsdowne Road.
Follow the RBS 6 Nations on Facebook and Twitter
His biggest impact came in the 2013 tournament, where he made four appearances alongside Donnacha Ryan, with his final appearance for Ireland coming last year against France in Paris.
McCarthy’s last appearance at club level came against Scarlets on March 4, and the former Connacht man admits it was tough to bow out in such a manner.
“It’s just sad because I’ve played my last game without really knowing it, without really being able to savour it or take it in,” he said.
“That decision has been taken away from me and it’s difficult because even random things like I’m a dad and you do think of moments like bringing your daughter onto the pitch for a lap, maybe even with a trophy, and that’s no longer an option so like I said it’s just difficult right now to get my head around.
“For 17 years I’ve been playing the game I love, running around tearing into people and having people tear into you. How do you replace that? You probably can’t but it’s trying to get my head around it all.
“Unfortunately I had been ruled out for the season anyway with a back and an elbow issue and to be honest the back injury has been dealt with but there was also an elbow injury in training and that injury has left the elbow in a pretty bad way.
“So it’s come to this. You have to listen to the medics, you have to back their advice.”