Last June Jared Payne earned a spot on the Lions tour and started against the Chiefs. It was an accomplished performance that saw the Ulster man land a try as Gatland's side won the game. However, Payne has not played a game since then.
The versatile back was stood down with persistent headaches. A definitive timeline was never put on his return and now Payne has revealed to Ulster rugby he struggled since that day.
Since then I haven't been quite right.
Payne is 32-years-old and he confirmed he unsure whether he will return to rugby.
It’s been a bit stop-start. There’s been times when it hasn’t been too bad and other times when it’s been pretty bad. We’ve tried different things to get it right and been trying to get back but unfortunately nothing has cleared everything up just yet.
We’ll see how we go with a bit of rest over the next month and go from there.
In the meantime, his expertise is being utilised where available and he is keeping busy by coaching.
I've been helping out with the coaches a bit, wherever they need me. I'm happy to help out. I'm doing a bit of work now on the defence side of things.
Payne was an outstanding defensive operator, who could read the opposition expertly and thus Joe Schmidt was a keen admirer. His loss has been evident for his province this year.
