But with a late March comeback lined up, Best has now set his sights on adding to his 31 Ireland caps.

He said: “I am delighted now to really see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“If I can continue to progress then maybe a return after the Six Nations is a strong possibility.

A chronic disc injury had plagued him for months until the surgery last summer, and after a lengthy rehabilitation he is delighted to have returned to full-contact training.

“It felt good - a lot of goals had already been achieved previously and moving on to the next one is always a boost," he said.

“The wee bit of contact was good, I took some hits. I got suited up in the vest, and although there were some concerns from the coaching team, the medical team said it had to be done at some point.”