'It was the worst injury I've ever had' - Kilcoyne looks back in the mix after worrying neck injury

Dave Kilcoyne hadn't yet been told he'd been bumped up to the matchday squad on Saturday, but when he met Paul O'Connell on the way out of the elevator, he knew something was up.

"Are you ready, kid?", the Ireland forward's coach asked.

Even without Cian Healy's hamstring injury, the Munster loosehead would have been togging out at the Principality Stadium as one of the reserves, ready and waiting in case of injury.

"I prepared all week as if I was being involved, so I was just ready to go," he says as he looks back on his Ireland return.

It's been a difficult year for the 34-year-old. A neck injury picked up in Ireland's final Six Nations game against Scotland in March required surgery, and not only did it rule him out of the business end of Munster's season, it also saw him sidelined for the summer Test series win against the All Blacks.

He was fit for the start of the season for his province, but had lost ground internationally to his Munster teammate Jeremy Loughman who took what would likely have been his place on the plane to New Zealand.

Loughman impressed against the Maori All Blacks, and retained his place in the squad for the Autumn Nations Series, with Kilcoyne (below) briefly in camp with the Ireland A squad.

However, the frustration of missing out on a famous Irish series win in New Zealand was overshadowed by what was a very serious injury, having had to get two discs in his neck shaved.

"It was the worst injury I've ever had," he says.

"I lost power down my hand through getting those discs shaved and it was unnerving at times, wondering would the power ever come back.

"It was a couple of months with the great S&C and rehab coaches down in Munster, and it just wasn’t coming and wasn’t coming, then all of a sudden it