'Any time my head touched the pillow it felt like a knife going through me'

It was a routine, unexceptional, nondescript Leinster League rugby match between Ashbourne and Boyne in November 2018 when James McCaghy started to feel the pain; searing, debilitating agony. What he terms himself the "awful pain."

The Ashbourne RFC hooker didn't know it at the time but he was at the start of a long journey, full of twists and turns. A journey that included an enforced spell in retirement before he made a return to competitive action at the start at this season after recovering from a career-threatening injury.

Now, this week, he will put the finishing touches to his preparations as Ashbourne prepare to take on Kilkenny in the Provincial Towns' Cup final at Cill Dara RFC on Sunday. It says a lot about McCaghy's courage and commitment to his club, his sport, that his is still playing at all. That he is still a contender.

Not long after picking up that torturous neck injury, McCaghy was told he risked seriously undermining his health if he played on. "I came off injured (against Boyne) and couldn't sleep for three or four days. I knew there was something seriously wrong because any time my head touched the pillow it felt like a knife going through me," he recalls.

"I got scans done and the showed two hernia discs in my neck, C4 and C5, and the swelling on my neck was impinging on the nerves going down into my neck and shoulder. I'd lost power in my arm, my right arm, and couldn't lif it for a couple of days," he recalls. He received treatmeant and it worked, avoiding the need for surgery. He was lucky but the doctor also outlined the stark reality for the hooker if he continued to play rugby, the game he clearly loves.

"The doctor said to me: 'Look you're a bad bang away from doing yourself serious injury so I walked away from the game at that stage, that was my hint to give it up."

So he hung up his boots - or at least that's what he thought.

McCaghy - who is single and involved in a business that runs guesthouses - sought to keep fit by engaging in some non-contact rugby. He enjoyed it greatly. Again in the pursuit for fitness he returned to training with his Ashbourne colleagues. Again non-contact. He enjoyed the craic and the banter once more. It brought it home to him how much he had missed it all. At the start of this season he started to give the club seconds a "dig out" if and when he was needed. He was needed. He also continued with an exercise programme to strengthen his neck muscles. That too has greatly helped.

A spate of injuries that hit the first-team at the start of this season also meant they required some assistance. "Before I knew it I came on as a sub at half-time in the first game of the season as a flanker - to try and keep the pressure and strain off my neck." Eventually McCaghy returned to his familiar role as hooker .

The long list of injuries meant also Ashbourne couldn't buy a win in the early stages of the campaign. Relegation looked a real prospect but they then carved out a victory in Dundalk just before Christmas. They pushed on and eventually pulled clear of the mire.

Ashbourne also put in a sustained run in the Towns' Cup. They defeated Naas (22-15), Athy (34-13) before overcoming Mullingar (23-15) in the semi-final at North Kildare RFC. In that game McCaghy made up a familiar front row of Mark Behan and Alan Wall. The Ashbourne pack pummelled their counterparts that day; their power providing a unassailable platform for victory.

McCagey, is part of an Ashbourne front-row that has, he reckons himself, a combined age of 122. Tighthead prop Mark Behan is in his forties and the other prop Alan Wall is "the baby" of the trio at 36.

Ashbourne, who claimed the All-Ireland Junior Cup in 2017, '18 and '19, have only ever won the Towns' Cup once. That was back in 2014 when they defeated Kilkenny of all teams. It's a day McCaghy will never forget. "The match itself was brutal, it must have been one of the worst games played in the history of rugby, to this day I've never watched it back. The celebrations though went for week and I'll never forget club membes and supportes clapping us as we stepped off the bus in the club carpark. It was one of the best experiences of my life."

Now, like in 2014, McCaghy and Ashbourne face Kilkenny in another Towns' Cup decider. The teams have met twice in the league this season, Ashbourne winning one, Kilkenny the other. Invariably when the teams meet there is little between them. Kilkenny defeated Edenderry (34-20), Co Carlow (13-8) and Dundalk (20-15) to reach the final.

A few years ago Ashbourne made to the Towns' Cup semi-final where they were defeated by Tullow. McCaghy, you sense, is still smarting from that loss. It left a scar and now there is a chance for redemption. "That defeat still galls me so to have an opportunity to win it now is huge."

Win or lose the Ashbourne hooker is not sure if he will retire or not after Sunday's showdow. "The body is ok, a lot depends on neck," he says. Anyway talk of retiremeant can be left to another day. Right now the main focus is taking back the Town's Cup to Ashbourne. Back home.