THERE ARE TIMES now when Conor O’Tighearnaigh’s working day does not begin and end with Leinster training.

The 23-year-old is back studying medicine at UCD this season, combining his professional rugby commitments with a hospital placement in St Vincent’s as he attempts to keep two demanding careers moving in parallel.

Not surprisingly, it is a balancing act that has required some adjustment. O’Tighearnaigh completed his first four years of medicine before taking a leave of absence last year to concentrate fully on rugby.

He has now returned to his studies, with two years remaining on the course, but is spreading them over four years on a part-time basis.

“It’s tough,” he acknowledged. “Thankfully UCD have been very helpful with me, very accommodating and supportive.”

With Leinster commitments taking up four days of the week, O’Tighearnaigh has one full day on placement and makes up the remainder of his hospital hours around training.

Some mornings begin early at St Vincent’s, while on other days he heads to the hospital after training. The province’s current trip to South Africa will mean he is missing a fortnight of his placement, with online work to be completed during the trip before he makes up the hours on his return to Dublin.

“It’s not a very black and white schedule but it’s kind of make up the hours where I can,” he explained.

There are other Leinster players pursuing studies, but O’Tighearnaigh accepts his particular workload is “probably one of the more full-on ones”.

He wouldn’t want it any other way. “They’re both tough but they’re probably the two things I’ve always wanted to do really,” he explained.

“If you told me five, ten years ago I’d be doing one of them, I’d be happy. So having the opportunity to do both is, I’m very privileged to be in that position.”

Medicine can offer a break from rugby and rugby can provide the same escape in the other direction. The key is making sure neither comes at the expense of the other.

Taking a year away from medicine gave O’Tighearnaigh the opportunity to concentrate solely on rugby, and he had the opportunity to reset over the summer break.

“Now I feel like I’ve got plenty of energy to kind of attack on both fronts now and be able to really enjoy what I’m doing and make the most of it,” he said.

That meant starting the new campaign on the front foot and the big second row did that in the province’s two pre-season fixtures and the URC opener against the Lions in Johannesburg last Saturday.

“It’s been a big step-up and it’s been a tough pre-season but it’s been very enjoyable just being able to put on the Leinster jersey and just get the opportunity to go out there and play as well as I can,” he said.

“We definitely could have – and maybe should have – won, but there were a lot of positives. Physically we were able to match them up front,” he said. “Even though we had a young team, we weren’t in any way pushed over up front.”

That physical development has been a real focus for O’Tighearnaigh. While a six-month spell out with a shoulder injury last season was frustrating at the time, ultimately it gave him an opportunity to concentrate on becoming better ready for the demands of playing at this level.

“I feel the last year, two years, I’ve made good strides in that,” he pointed out.

The next test comes against the Sharks in Durban, where another physical battle awaits. “They have a massive scrum and a big maul,” he said. “We’re expecting a big challenge from set-piece.”