FLANKER Carl Kirwan is refusing to give up on his “dream” of playing top-flight rugby again after leaving Worcester Warriors.

The ex-London Welsh captain said he had hoped to secure a new deal at Sixways only to be told “there wasn’t any budget left” for another back rower.

Durham-born Kirwan has now dropped two divisions to play for National One side Chinnor while taking on a site manager’s role for a construction company.

But the 28-year-old who made four appearances last season says he still has a burning desire to return to the Gallagher Premiership.

“I would love to play in the top-flight,” Kirwan said.

“I still feel more than capable of playing at that level.

“That would be the dream but for now it is about digging in with Chinnor and helping them move up the league.

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“I am really excited to just get playing.

“I hope I can stay injury free, get a run of games and start to enjoy rugby again.”

THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH CARL KIRWAN FEATURES ON THIS WEEK'S WORCESTER WARRIORS PODCAST WHICH IS AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD FROM SOUNDCLOUD AND ITUNES

It has been a frustrating past couple of years for Kirwan who feared his career might be over when he sustained a second serious shoulder injury last year.

After joining Warriors in 2015, Kirwan made 24 outings in his first season-and-a-half at the club.

But disaster struck in December 2016 when he damaged his shoulder playing in a European Challenge Cup clash against Dragons.

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Due to complications the injury that was expected to take 16 weeks to repair ruled him out of action for 13 months.

It was a big relief when Kirwan ran out for Worcester Cavaliers against Leicester Tigers but just 42 minutes into the match he sustained another blow to his shoulder.

“That was definitely one of the worst times in not just my rugby career but probably my life,” Kirwan said.

“The only thing I remember from that night was when I was showering in full kit with my GPS on and Niall (Annett) came in, chucked a towel over my head and said ‘Come on mate’.

“After the second shoulder injury I did have a voice in the back of my head saying ‘It’s probably time to give it up’.

“But I just wanted to see how I came out of the surgery and see how the rehab went.”

After getting back to his “best” in training last summer Kirwan suffered a “small hamstring tear” but he kept believing he would pull on the blue and gold.

And on December 15, 2018 – two years after he last played for Warriors – Kirwan registered his long-awaited 25th appearance for Warriors.

The forward played three further matches including a man-of-the-match display in the European quarter-final defeat to Harlequins. But a contract did not come his way.

“Pretty early on Solly (Alan Solomons, director of rugby) said that there wasn’t any budget left for me in the back row,” Kirwan said.

“That was fine, but the frustrating part was that I felt like I was going out there, playing so well yet I was still not getting any opportunities.

“Solly was very impressed with how I played in the Saracens and Quins games but when it came to selection for other matches he just wasn’t including me.

“I was so hungry to fight for a new contract that I would have done anything to try to stay there.

“I just didn’t get the opportunities that I felt I deserved.

“I enjoyed being at Worcester. I enjoyed the fans and loved the city, so it was stressful and emotional when I left.

“I just want to pull on the shirt again and run around in the Premiership.”

Kirwan is now preparing for life in the third tier of English rugby with Chinnor where he is also defence coach.

“Chinnor came across with a lot of aspirations to try to climb the leagues,” Kirwan added.

“They also offered me a (site manager’s) job (at Rectory Homes) which meant the transition away from rugby would be a little bit smoother.

“It just became the better option for life.

“But the competitor in me is still massively there.”