Ronan injury a major setback

The news Niall Ronan had been dreading was revealed to him Monday when he was told he had badly damaged his cruciate ligament in his left knee and will be out for the rest of the season. The Bettystown man had played in all of Munster's Heineken Cup games this season and had finally established himself as a regular back row player when he picked up the injury in the 26-10 victory over Castres Olympique at Thomond Park on Saturday. Ronan, in his fifth season with Munster, says he will be out of action for "five or six months" at least. He hopes to have an operation next week and then start his long recuperation. "Next season is probably the next time I'll be playing rugby," he dejectedly admitted to the Meath Chronicle this week just after he had received the grim diagnosis. "It's very disappointing, but I'm a fairly positive person so I'll just have to get on with it and try and get back as soon as possible." With a similar injury suffered by David Wallace playing for Ireland in the lead up to the World Cup the door was open for Ronan, who has three Irish senior caps, to nail down a regular place and he had produced a string of impressive performances. "I was playing some of the best rugby in my career. It's the joy of rugby, it's a contact sport, but unfortunately I've torn the cruciate. That's my season gone anyway. "This is one of the worst injuries you could have and one of the worst I've had in my career. This is the business end of the season from now on and it's a pity I'm going to miss it. That's life," he added with an air of resignation. A few years ago the former Meath minor footballer injured his shoulder and he admitted that was mild in comparision to this current setback. One positive is that he signed a new two-year contract with Munster just a fortnight ago. He points to how other sportsmen such as Niall Quinn and Roy Keane sustained cruciate ligament injuries and came back stronger and better than ever. He's trying to look on the bright side as a lenghty spell on the sidelines beckon.