"It became almost like habit" - Brian O'Driscoll lifts lid on rugby's painkiller use 

Brave from Brian. Best wishes from Limerick Eire.

Love the honesty

I posted an opinion last night on the painkiller use but its not here this morning !

It's a topic worthy of discussion for sure, but on the week the Heineken cup returns, I'd have preferred a chat purely about the upcoming games.

I can only imagine the concoctions American footballers take.

Players need to be commended for what they do to get on the pitch.

I think most sports people end up taking painkillers...i'm a long distance runner and i've always had anti infammatory painkillers in my bag. I think there's this view in general people think if you take these things because of a sport you become an addict. Maybe for a few...the odd one....but most of us don't get addicted. When you hit 35 miles running you'll be glad you had a few painkillers in your bag. Are they killing you....probably not as much as the run is.

To be fair there are a lot of people taking difene to go to work anyway! Just to be able to stop the back pain when you sit at a desk all day. Not isolated to rugby players.

Let’s be honest, I played rugby at a very much lower level than these guys but I also had to go to work on Monday. So because of the wish to play and the need and wish to go to work I played while carrying an injury and took as many codine and ibruprofen as needed on Saturday morning and Monday too. If asked at team selection if I was fit I said yes, unless I had an injury that would limit my performance (groin strain, hamstring pull etc.) We are rugby players and we want to play. I was never payed to play and never pressured to play. The fact is that we are all big boys and we know that the game is hard on our bodies. Play or not. But playing is better than not.

Kimmage is grinning right now

Oh dear, Eddie should’ve let bod play in 07

It would be impossible to play the professional game without painkillers the game has changed since amateur days

Diazepam and sleepers shocked me but nothing else .Thats definitely not happening now.

People don't believe there are doctors paid by the organisations to come in and literally give players any drug they want. Its in every sport I really didn't think it was in rugby or that they would be giving out the likes of co-codamol and diazepam.

the dark side of Rugby - its sad what players have to do to get through the pain and not to mention what these meds even just paracetemol does to the stomach and organs can be life threatening in the long term...just goes to show Rugby players are only human - not indestructable as we often see them

People not animals.

It's like a morgue in there...

It’s as if the presenter is trying to create controversy where there is none. Irish players are the best managed in the world. This issue is relevant in France and England Club rugby

Getting a bit sick of seeing bod almost everyday on my feed