Paul O’Connell Discusses Playing In France

Paul O’Connell is one of the legends of Irish rugby. Along with Brian O’Driscoll and Ronan O’Gara, he is part of the holy trinity that make up what some have called Ireland’s “Golden Generation”. Irish fans everywhere felt a pang of fear when rumors began to circulate that O’Connell was contemplating a move to France, and fans of all four provinces had to ask “et tu brute” when they heard that Toulon was one of the bidders. Now, O’Connell has given us his answer.

No.

Of course, he had rather more to say than that, but that is kind of the important bit. O’Connell offered a very interesting insight into the world of Irish internationals playing in France. “If you want to play at your best for Ireland, I don’t think playing in France is the answer for any Irish player”.

This confirms what winger Tommy Bowe had to say about playing overseas and the increase in work that results. The Irish player management system has take some flak lately from Matt O’Connor and some Leinster supporters, but it is generally regarded as a key factor in players like O’Connell and O’Driscoll extending their international careers.

O’Connell the Irish captain, elaborated on this point, citing the example of Jonathan Sexton, the mercurial Irish flyhalf, who plies his trade for Racing Metro in the Top 14. “Look at this Six Nations when Johnny played these big games for Ireland when there’s a lot of pressure on him, out-half is probably the most stressful position on the team, and we then have a down week when we can train hard but mentally switch off – he had to travel home and play in a big game.”

O’Connell still refused to make any sort of official announcement regarding his retirement, but said that he was going to retire only when he was absolutely sure that it was the right choice for him. He cited the example of legendary jockey AP McCoy to justify his thoughts on the matter. “The day you 100 per cent say, ‘This is exactly what I’m going to do’ you’re kind of stuck with that. I met AP McCoy a few weeks ago and he said he was kind of punishing himself, he made a decision and he’s making himself stay with it. I thought it was a strange thing to say and I don’t want to do that to myself yet until I’m 100pc what I’m doing.”

O’Connell certainly seems to be like a fine wine, getting better with age. First there was the game sealing hit on Ben McCalman against Australia, then the Player of the Tournament winning performance in the 6 Nations, capped with a try against Scotland. His leadership is a huge part of Ireland’s success, and when he does hang up the boots, it will be a massive loss to not only Irish rugby, but rugby as a whole.