SIX MONTHS AGO, Sean Rigney was mentally preparing himself to undergo open heart surgery in Australia. Last weekend, the tall lock scored a try for Young Munster against Terenure as the Cookies made it two wins from two to start the All-Ireland League season in style. Rigney is in the second row again today as they take on defending champions Cork Con at Temple Hill.
The 26-year-old says that there was one stage in Australia when he wasn’t sure he’d be here at all. Tullamore man Rigney moved Down Under in February to play in the famous Shute Shield club competition and do a bit of work before returning home in September. He was hoping to enjoy a month of sightseeing on Australia’s east coast before leaving.
In the end, he couldn’t get out of Australia fast enough. Rigney’s not sure if he’ll ever go back. He got stuck into life with his new club, Southern Districts, when he first arrived and was enjoying life in Cronulla, a southern suburb of Sydney.
Warm-up games had gone well for him but everything suddenly changed just before league season got going after Easter weekend. Rigney thought he was coming down with the flu. Looking back, he feels he was naive given that he had no cough or blocked nose.
He trained on Tuesday and was vomiting by the next day. Rigney still trained on Thursday, feeling he needed to so soon before the Shute Shield started. “I was dosed up on every sort of Lemsip I could find,” he says.
“I actually felt better after, I thought I was o.
