Kevin McLaughlin forced to retire

john kinsella

Sad news for Kevin. A great player and a nice guy apparently.

Concussion related retirements are getting scary with the amount of them happening these days.

http://www.irishtimes.com/sport/rugby/pro12/kevin-mclaughlin-to-retire-from-rugby-on-medical-grounds-1.2361571

dub_skav

We were just talking about him in the RDS at the Cardiff match and saying that but for injury he could have had a load more Ireland caps.
Terrible shame to lose him, but his health comes first and glad that he seems healthy walking away and can get on with his life.

rrpc

I've had a few twitter exchanges with Kevin over the years. Always replies and always good humoured. I thought he was a great player for tidying up dirty ball for Leinster and a tireless worker around rucks.

We really will miss him.

BTW it's spelled with an 'A': McLaughlin.

CatFromHue

dub_skav wrote: »

We were just talking about him in the RDS at the Cardiff match and saying that but for injury he could have had a load more Ireland caps.
Terrible shame to lose him, but his health comes first and glad that he seems healthy walking away and can get on with his life.

He was at that match.

I saw him queuing at a coffee stand in his shorts and Leinster gear.

Himself and Jennings missing most of last season, to me anyway, are one of the big reasons we did so poorly with the Internationals away.

He will be a big loss for this season too.

Our flankers now are Leavy, Ruddock, Ryan, Murphy, SOB, and V der Flier. With Murphy and SOB, and maybe Ruddock too, being away with Ireland it's a pretty inexperienced back row.

Larbre34

Well thats a shock.

Hard luck Locky, you put in a shift and a half, good health in the future.

wicklowdub

Tough on him to have to retire but the right decision, in fact no decision to be made really. No doubt has a future in print, always enjoyed his restaurant reviews.

Noopti

Sad news, but he is obviously making the right decision. Best of luck to him in the future.

thebaz

great servant to Leinster - played his best rugby for Ireland against the All Blacks , which says something - rarely made mistakes and sound guy of the pitch.

vienne86

Poor Kev must be devastated. he will be so missed by Leinster.

Can someone correct the spelling of his name in the title.

crisco10

Sad news. A great servant off the pitch too by all accounts.

Agree that injury denied him of a few more irish caps, easy to forget that he was on the pitch that day in 2013 when Ireland almost beat the all blacks.

death1234567

dub_skav wrote: »

he seems healthy walking away and can get on with his life.

He might be healthy now but after these repeated concussions what's he going to be like when he's in his 50's and 60's. Ditto for Brian O'Driscoll, if he has vertigo now what's he going to have in 30 years time? Your brain doesn't improve over time. The long term health of professional players who have a series of concussions is going to be a major issue in the future.

dub_skav

death1234567 wrote: »

He might be healthy now but after these repeated concussions what's he going to be like when he's in his 50's and 60's. Ditto for Brian O'Driscoll, if he has vertigo now what's he going to have in 30 years time? Your brain doesn't improve over time. The long term health of professional players who have a series of concussions is going to be a major issue in the future.

Oh I completely agree and didn't mean to understate the possible seriousness of the situation.
Really what I was saying is that we have not heard repeated worrying things about Kevin and he hasn't had extended periods out with concussions, so hopefully he is walking away before it's too late.

It is happening a lot in the NFL too, guys retiring before the problems are severe rather than take additional risks.
Hopefully, we have turned a corner with that and guys are getting out early enough

rrpc

Isa Nacewa's thoughts on Kevin's retirement in today's Indo.

The shock announcement from Kev on Monday morning that he was retiring immediately was hard to hear.

Kev has been an ever present during my time here so I have seen a fair bit of him and know what he's about. From my first day here at Leinster back in July 2008 until today, to me Kev is what epitomises a T.P. - a 'True Professional'.

Everything and anything Kev was working towards was with a 'team-first' mindset. His captaincy and leadership alone over the past 10 weeks highlights what type of Leinster man Kev is.

He will be missed hugely on a personal level but also amongst the collective. You just don't replace a man like that overnight. Leo put it very well when he said that his impact went beyond his 115 caps and his medals.

Another great piece from Nacewa and a fitting tribute to Kevin's character and importance to Leinster. Epitomised the 'unsung hero' that he was.

As an aside, Nacewa is turning out to be a prolific and insightful writer.

vienne86

rrpc wrote: »

Isa Nacewa's thoughts on Kevin's retirement in today's Indo.



Another great piece from Nacewa and a fitting tribute to Kevin's character and importance to Leinster. Epitomised the 'unsung hero' that he was.

As an aside, Nacewa is turning out to be a prolific and insightful writer.

......and is playing very nicely too. I was cynical enough about him coming out of retirement, but I am mighty glad we have him back.

rrpc

vienne86 wrote: »

......and is playing very nicely too. I was cynical enough about him coming out of retirement, but I am mighty glad we have him back.

It's like he never went away.