Surgery only option for O'Driscoll

Brian O'Driscoll revealed that surgery was the only solution to the trapped nerve that was troubling his everyday life.

The Ireland captain will miss most of the season after being ruled out for six months with the shoulder problem that has afflicted him for the past year. Next week O'Driscoll will go under the surgeon's knife with the recovery time preventing him from participating in the RBS 6 Nations.

"It's a trapped nerve starting from my neck and running down into my arm," he said. "I need the operation for general life, not just from a rugby point of view."

And depending on how Leinster perform in the Heineken Cup and RaboDirect PRO12 League, he may have little opportunity to play in April or May - even if his rehabilitation progresses as hoped.

The 32-year-old was clearly operating below full throttle during the recent World Cup and after seeking expert advice it was decided he required an operation.

He added: "It had become too uncomfortable over the past eight or so months and has grown progressively worse since the World Cup.

"I just couldn't go through another full season like this.

"The time came to get some opinions on it and all the surgeons I saw were singing from the same hymn sheet. That gave me confidence that it did need doing.

"I've felt it during collisions, whether I've been in control of them or not.

"It hasn't been dangerous, but you go down because your arm doesn't work which means you're not much good to your team."