I last had a one-on-one interview with Kevin McLaughlin at the Copthorne Hotel in Christchurch. He had been selected to start at blindside against the All Blacks.
Three years later and we faced each other again, with a dictaphone in the middle, and discussed his retirement a couple of days after his 31st birthday.
In many ways, McLaughlin feels, he was lucky to make it to his 30s.
He tells us, “30, 31 seems to be the age where guys have struggled with injuries in their career have to address the balance [and retire].
“If you look at the game 10 years ago, there were not that many high intensity matches. Now we have them every week, especially with the guys who play all the international games. It is, physically, very demanding and draining.
“As a forward, getting to play to 31 or 32 is a good career now. On the flip side, guys are starting their [professional] careers earlier. They come out of school and they are almost ready to go; guys who are 20, 21. They can almost play international level.”
McLaughlin went through facial surgery, reconstruction of both shoulders and operations on ankles and knees during a career that spanned nine seasons.
That beginning of the end arrived late last year when he was concussed against Benetton Treviso. He was 50 minutes into his comeback game, in December 2014, when he blew out his shoulder. It put the kibosh on his season.
The most worrying aspect of McLaughlin’s comeback were the concussion-type symptoms he was picking up through the most innocuous of manners.
“With me,” McLaughlin says, “it wasn’t actually the number of concussions I had. I’ve had concussions throughout my career but since that Treviso game it was more about my increased susceptibility to concussion.
“I was basically getting the symptoms too easily. I was heading a beach ball, in the pool, on my holidays in Spain. I didn’t get concussed but I was getting woozy.
“Then, coming back from my shoulder injury, I was hitting a bag – not even high intensity – and feeling dazed.”
He continues, “When that happened, I didn’t want to admit it to myself – that it was an issue – because I was thinking to myself ‘I’ve got to be able to hit steam trains in a few weeks. This isn’t going to do anything to me. This is nothing.’
“When I came back against Edinburgh and got knocked out, running shoulder-first into someone – not even high impact – that is when I knew I had to tell someone.”
Of his retirement, he says, “I knew that something was up because I was getting the symptoms too easily but I thought the neurologist might have some sort of silver bullet that would save me. But he made it clear that it was time to hang the boots up.
“In a lot of ways, that made it easier as there was no ambiguity. It was like ‘You need to retire and you need to retire now’.”
His retirement due to concussion worries was the second in four months for Irish rugby following prop Declan Fitzpatrick’s decision to stop playing the game for his own health and safety.
McLaughlin now hopes his can be a cautionary tale for other players that are battling concussion. He says:
“Now, I’m happy to speak to the media and other players about it because they are, possibly, going through what I did and need to talk to someone about it.
“That’s what I felt, ‘I’m going through this but there is no-one I can actually talk to’. I want to put it out there.
“There are probably guys out there and are going through what I did but are afraid to tell anyone. Rugby is a macho environment and no matter how the medical staff are, guys don’t want to be honest with themselves.
“Being honest with yourself is the first step… It is something you need to recognise or it could lead to serious damage down the line.”
As for that game against New Zealand, McLaughlin played a blinder but Ireland lost 22-19 to a last-minute Dan Carter drop goal.
15 months later and he came off the bench as Ireland were done by a late, late Ryan Crotty try to lose 24-22. McLaughlin describes that game as “genuine heartbreak”.
His mood lightens, however, as he jokes, “It probably didn’t help my Test career that four of my eight caps were won against New Zealand.”
McLaughlin’s proudest moment on a rugby field is not pushing the All Blacks close or the many trophies he won with Leinster, it is the 2012 Heineken Cup semi-final.
He says, “No-one expected us to win, away to Clermont, and we didn’t play our best rugby but we dug in and won. They are games that can really make a team.
“Personal highlight, though, is the PRO12 final win over Ulster in 2013. We had lost three other finals and there was no way we were not coming off the pitch, that day, without the win.”
