Ronan forced to retire

Munster's Niall Ronan will retire at the end of the current Pro12 season due to injury.

Ronan has been forced to retire from the game due to a right knee injury sustained at training in October last year.

The 31-year-old back row forward work hard on his rehabilitation for a two-month period, but required surgery just before Christmas.

Acting on medical advice post-surgery means he has to, unfortunately, retire at the end of the season.

The Meath man joined Munster at the start of the 2007/08 season and played a key role in Munster's successes over the years.  

He is one of seven current squad members with over 100 caps for the province and made his debut against the United States in August 2007.

In total Ronan has made 104 Munster appearances, scoring 16 tries, and played for Ireland on four occasions.

Ronan informed his teammates of the news ahead of training on Wednesday and although extremely disappointed he was very thankful for the opportunity to play professional rugby.

"It has been a huge honour for me to play with such a great team for the past seven years," Ronan said.

"I'm very fortunate to have been given the opportunity to play with Munster Rugby and I truly enjoyed the experience.

"I would like to thank the supporters, staff, teammates and people of Munster for my time here.

"I would also like to thank my family, friends and former clubs that I played with for all their help and support throughout my career."

While Ronan committed his time to a career in rugby he made provisions for the future by continuing with his studies and recently completed a BA in Strength & Conditioning with Setanta College.

"I will return to my home town of Drogheda and set up a business in the line of work I've studied for, focusing on injury rehabilitation.

"I believe my experience as a professional rugby player will help me in this regard, and I am looking forward to supporting my old club Boyne RFC from the side-lines, going back to where it all began for me."