Kevin McLaughlin on the godawful pain of five nose breaks during his rugby career

Kevin McLaughlin is eager to show off his new nose.

"What do you think? You can comment on it if you want," he remarks as I sit down for a chat in Sky's Dublin headquarters. "The comparison between this and the old nose is ridiculous." We ask if it has made much of a difference. "Yeah," he replies, "I can breathe now. Not perfectly yet but it's better." The former Leinster and Ireland flanker then pinches the bridge of his nose to demonstrate how he has been talking at a squeak for the last two years. "Because my nose was so mangled, there was no air getting through." McLaughlin went in for surgery on his nose late last month and is starting to resemble the man he once was. https://twitter.com/KMcLaughlin6/status/669600701199343619 McLaughlin, who retired from rugby after concussion issues three months ago, tells us, "I have probably had about five nose breaks during my career.

"The surgeon said it was one of the more damaged noses he had ever seen. "He was an hour and 15 minutes with a hammer and chisel trying to put it back in place. "All I said to him was 'I'm glad you didn't say that to me before the surgery'."

The 30-year-old says the players association [IRUPA] pushed hard for all retired players to get up to 12 months of surgeries to correct any damage sustained on the rugby field. "You have to tie up any loose ends in terms of day-to-day pain or injuries sustained through rugby. "Basically, I've got an open policy until next September but that should be it. I don't want to have any more surgeries."

BEFORE & AFTER

Leinster v Toulon is live on Sky Sports 3 on Saturday from 5pm. The fixture is part of Sky Sports'festive line-up, including European rugby, Premier League football and darts.