The problem plagued O’Driscoll during the World Cup, and he failed to make Leinster’s RaboDirect PRO12 encounter with Munster on Friday night.

And now it has been revealed O’Driscoll will be out for at least six months as he undergoes surgery to correct a trapped nerve.

But O’Driscoll, Ireland’s record tryscorer, was looking on the bright side and is adamant he will be fit and firing by the end of the season.  

“(The surgeon) has given me a likelihood, percentage wise, of what my chances are of getting back," he said. 

“It's pretty realistic and a lot of it is about whether you are asymptomatic when you do eventually come back and do all the rehab and then get into the collision side of things.

“I do have the rest of my life to think about as well and if there was any chance of playing through discomfort again then probably the smart move would be to call it a day, but that's thinking very far ahead and we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

“As far as I'm concerned, there's huge positivity to be taken from the results that have been seen on this injury before and I've seen plenty of guys come back from it so there's no reason why not.

“When the operation is done I'll be able to come back and get some quality rehab done and then set an exact date to return.

"The latter stages of the Heineken Cup is something to target. I'll know more about how I'm feeling and if I'm getting stronger in the weeks after the operation.

"I'll be able to set those targets better as time passes. I've been out for six months before and know how to cope with these things.

"I see myself coming back from this and playing for certainly another season. Who knows after that, let's see how the body feels."