Paul O'Connell spoke to The Irish Examiner's Charlie Mulqueen about his long road to recovery from his groin infection.
"The Munster and Lions captain has been sidelined since March due to a mysterious bone infection in the groin area that defied the best efforts of the medics to diagnose and treat. The problem was eventually identified and thus began a lengthy treatment process which kept O’Connell wrapped in cotton wool for much of the summer. But over the last five weeks the Limerick man has made huge strides, to the delight of provincial and national management and fans alike. Understandably after a season of setbacks, he isn’t announcing return dates just yet.
"O’Connell said: "Once we got rid of the infection, things started improving. I have a scan every two weeks and it shows the bone healing. Once the bone heals, I can get back doing most stuff. But then I have to get a pre-season into me.
"I’ve been back doing weights now for five weeks. Prior to that I’d been on antibiotics for a long time and wasn’t able to do that. It’s nice to be back training again even if I’m not doing all the stuff on the pitch that the lads are doing. It’s nice to be working hard in the gym, you feel like you’re earning your wages!
"I’m off all the treatment now but I’ve tried to avoid setting targets for my return. The injury is so unusual that I could make great gains but all of a sudden things could slow down. The improvements over the last two or three weeks have been good and I hope that continues. But I have no doubt there are going to be one or two hiccups along the way. It’s frustrating enough as it is without targeting a game and missing it."
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