...but at least stricken O’Connell has
He worked on all parts of his game,
a true pro
THE plaudits rolling in for Paul O’Connell should not only focus on his heroics for Ireland, but also his leadership. As captain and spiritual leader, he was always the first out of the trenches and brought an organised madness to the way he played. Even though he wasn’t the biggest second row in international rugby, he always performed well above weight, especially when making contact. My abiding memory of O’Connell was when I played a Celtic League final for Leinster against Munster. While holding up a maul, I felt this unmerciful hit just under my rib-cage. It was a perfectly-placed legal shot and it came from someone who knew to hit a guy where it hurts. Looking around, I expected to see Mick Galwey or one of Munster’s experienced oldstagers. Instead, I saw this young, fresh-faced redhaired chap. Even then, he was street-wise beyond his years. What he has gone on to achieve since then has been phenomenal. Along with Brian O’Driscoll, he has been the greatest ambassador for the game in this country, an inspiration and role model for any youngster who wants to play rugby. One of the biggest things about O’Connell is that he is very old-school. He buys into the history of rugby, what it means to represent Ireland and Munster, what it means to Limerick. Those old-school ideals particularly came to the fore when he captained the Lions in the 2009 Tour of South Africa. With a little bit of luck, if Adam Jones or Brian O’Driscoll had not got injured, O’Connell would have been a Lions-winning captain to add to all his other honours. However, the way he brought all the Home Nations together on that tour, re-focused minds as to what being a Lion should be, and what it meant for each and every player, and ensured the team recovered from the ill-fated Lions tour of 2005 under Clive Woodward, illustrated what a leader of men he was. And it will be his leadership, above all, that everyone will remember. It would be disingenuous to pick out one Irish performance above any other, but he will be remembered as an authoritative figure for both Ireland and Munster. His line-outs were always tremendous and in his latter days, he became a much better ball-carrier. It showed that he was a true professional that he worked on every area of his game. From a motivational point of view, it would be good if Ireland could keep him in a non-playing capacity for the remainder of their World Cup campaign. Whether that is presenting jerseys on match-days or giving a team-talk. When you think of everything good that was in that performance against France, it mainly came down to passion. And that was the one thing that Paul O’Connell was able to instil, simply by the force of his leadership.