Paul O Conell a history

 

PAUL O CONNELL

 

For me and the way that I see rugby,Paul O Connell is defined by being 'Mr Munster'. This is more to do with having to go to France and winning matches that no one saw coming in France against teams like Toulouse and Biarritz especially in the Heineken cup finals. He was instrumental in the victories over  Castre and Leister in years gone by.  During his playing years with Munster he was involved in many semi finals and finals of the Heinken cup.

For me his Ireland career was defined b by winning the grand slam in 2009, the win over Australia in the world cup in 2011 and when they almost beat New Zealand in 2013 . The first time that we saw that something was coming was in 2004 when they won the Triple Crown but us being Irish we were never that sure but when they retained the 6 nations after losing Brian O Driscol that is when we thought we had a team

To captain the British Lions was his biggest  honour and he was able to play on a winning tour the Lions.

Paul was a leader from as early as I can remember seeing him play.  He was a defining player in the Irish line out and you knew that if the ball was thrown correctly Paul was almost certain to get it and push forward.  Paul was very important in Irish team as they had one of the best rolling mauls in the world at one stage.  He was the master of the scrum and the line out. Paul position on the team was often onseen but always important  You could always rely on him for the line out or to make the smart decision when it came to big kicks that could change a game.

Paul moved to France to play for Toulon after he lest Munster  probably to get away from the hysterics of the Irish fans .  Toulon are a super club with a lot of money  and my feeling is that PauI may find it more difficult to secure a place  on the team.  But this was his choice and I hope that he makes the smart and right decision that will stand to him after he leaves rugby.

 

The 2 coaches that defined O Connell's carer were Declan Kidney for bringing him into both the Munster and Ireland teams and Joe Schmidt for bringing success to Irish rugby winning the 6 nations back to back and choosing him for  captain for Ireland .

The Irish fans will miss Paul O Connell as he was very popular and part of a great era of rugby in Ireland.