Cruel end for warrior O’Connell
FOR a player who battled back from serious injury to add chapter after chapter to a glittering career, the premature ending of Paul O’Connell’s international story marked a cruel finale for one of Ireland’s greatest players.
The inspirational lock, who said before the Rugby World Cup that he would retire from the international stage at the end of the tournament, tore his hamstring in Sunday’s 24-9 pool-topping win over France, ending his dreams of a storybook ending.
“Paul O’Connell suffered a significant hamstring injury and will undergo surgery this week,” the Irish Rugby Football Union said. “Paul will not play again at Rugby World Cup 2015, and his time out of the game will depend on the outcome of the surgery.”
Mike McCarthy has been called into the squad as a replacement before Ireland’s quarter-final against Argentina in Cardiff on Sunday.
O’Connell, who turns 36 next week, will continue to play for his new club Toulon after a decorated 14-year club career with Munster, but after winning his 108th and final cap, Irish rugby was struggling to find the words to sum up his huge influence.
“There is not much I can say in the next 30 seconds that is going to sum up his contribution to Irish rugby and this World Cup,” Ireland fullback Rob Kearney said of his captain, who led the country to back-to-back Six Nations titles this year.
With a distinctive head of short red hair that disappeared as the years and caps rolled on, O’Connell made a try-scoring debut for Ireland against Wales in 2002, although he later admitted not remembering it after playing most of the first half concussed.
He had played his first game for his home club Munster a year earlier, and was part of one of the great teams who won European Cups in 2006 and 2008, ending years of near misses for the province and launching a dominant period for Irish sides in Europe.
Imposing
Standing 1.98m and weighing 112kg, to opponents O’Connell was twice as imposing. He dominated line-outs, cleared out rucks at will, and was an enormously powerful runner with a clear ability to lead.
“It’s been amazing to play with him,” said Ireland prop Jack McGrath. “He was a true warrior. He never left anything out there on the pitch.”
Ireland flanker Chris Henry said the captain’s speech before Sunday’s pool decider against France had everyone in tears.
Captain of the British and Irish Lions on their 2009 tour of South Africa, O’Connell returned from a near careerending back injury to become a Lions tourist for the third time during the successful 2013 series in Australia.
Cruelly, that tour was cut short too when O’Connell broke his arm before the second Test.
But like Brian O’Driscoll, whose retirement last year was greeted with similar adoration at home and abroad, O’Connell took on a new lease of life under Joe Schmidt when the Kiwi was appointed Ireland coach two years ago.
The towering second rower became only the fourth Irish player to win 100 caps, alongside O’Driscoll and former Munster teammates Ronan O’Gara and John Hayes, during this year’s Six Nations when he was voted player of the tournament.
Handed the captaincy on a full-time basis by Schmidt, the thoughtful Limerick native thrived under the coach’s methods and attention to detail, and said a future career in coaching was a possibility.
“I’m really sorry for him because he is a huge player,” said France captain Thierry Dusautoir, who has battled against O’Connell for club and country for the past decade.
“They have always been hard games against him, he’s a big warrior. I have a lot of respect for him. After Brian O’Driscoll, he may be another huge player to retire.” – Reuters