O’Driscoll is forced to miss entire Six Nations

The Ireland captain will miss most of the season after being ruled out for six months with the shoulder problem that has afflicted him for the past year.

O’Driscoll will go under the surgeon’s knife with the recovery time preventing him from participating in the Six Nations.

Depending on how Leinster perform in the Heineken Cup and RaboDirect PRO12 League, he may have little opportunity to play in April or May.

The 32-year-old was operating below full throttle during the World Cup and after seeking expert advice it was decided he required an operation.

“It’s a trapped nerve starting from my neck and running down into my arm,” he said. “I need the operation for general life, not just from a rugby point of view.

“It had become too uncomfortable over the past eight or so months and has grown progressively worse since the World Cup.

“I just couldn’t go through another full season like this. The time came to get some opinions on it and all the surgeons I saw were singing from the same hymn sheet.”