“Last February I got blunt trauma from a fist in a ruck and it detached vitreous from my retina. In the aftermath, I was seeing flashes of light and that sort of thing which was naturally extremely worrying. The medical advice was that another direct hit could lead to retinal damage and visual impairment.”

Despite such a worrying prognosis, O’Brien, a former Irish international, wasn’t prepared to hang up the boots.

The 30-year-old explained: “We were coming towards the end of the season and had qualified for the All Ireland League semi-finals and I was still keen to keep playing and so the advice was to investigate the googles.”

And so she reached out to the poster child for google-wearing rugby players: Ian McKinley. Despite losing sight in his left eye the one time Leinster player returned to the game and a career with Benetton and the Italian national side — featuring in their defeat to Ireland in Chicago on Saturday.

I contacted Ian for general advice and he was wonderful. I felt I had lost my nerve a little after the injury and he helped me to get over that by telling me his story. He told me the key was to wear the goggles as often as I could to get used to them.

O’Brien, purchased her pair from the Bologna-based company, Raleri, who manufacture the goggles to World Rugby specifications. And, pun aside, she hasn’t looked back since then.

“I played the remaining league games last season and then the AIL final (which they lost to UL Bohemian).

“It is great to be back on the field but they are still hard to get used to. I wouldn’t be as sharp handling high balls or playing under floodlights.

You manage but drier days are certainly better.

“Yet it is a small price to pay to allow me to keep playing.”

And what do her teammates make of it all and her ‘new look’? “They’ve given me the nickname ‘Foggles’ I used to be known as FOB (as in short for Fiona O’Brien) but because I sometimes get frustrated when the googles’ fog over so FOB has become Foggles!”