O’Connell Set For 100 Irish Caps

As his 100th appearance in the green of Ireland beckons, we look at the illustrious international career to date of Munster and Ireland talisman Paul O’Connell.

Saturday’s 6 Nations encounter with Wales will see the 35 year old become just the fourth Irish international to reach the 100 cap milestone, after Brian O’Driscoll and fellow Munster-men Ronan O’Gara and John Hayes.

A native of Limerick, he initially excelled at swimming before turning to rugby. While attending Ardscoil Rís – whose alumni also include Mike Sherry, Dave Kilcoyne and Sean Cronin – a young O’Connell competed in the Munster Schools Senior Cup after which he won inclusion in the Ireland Schools side of 1997/98 alongside fellow international teammate Gordon D'Arcy.

While climbing through the Munster ranks, the second row also honed his talents in the club game, lining out for Young Munster, and his Irish representation at U21 level was a sign of things to come in both the provincial and international jersey – playing five consecutive games alongside Donncha O'Callaghan.

Earmarked from an early age as one to watch, O’Connell won his first international cap within six months of making his senior Munster debut (against Edinburgh in Myreside). Then Head Coach Eddie O’Sullivan included him in the starting line-up against Wales in the 2002 6 Nations and the 21 year old rewarded the faith shown by O’Sullivan in crossing for a try in Ireland’s comprehensive 54-10 victory on the day.

Speaking to In Touch (the IRFU official magazine) this week, the Irish captain recalled the events of 13 years ago.

“In some ways, I think your first cap is more important. It is something that you have never done before. Playing for your country the first time is huge. There is so much new to you, like being on that massive stage, playing for your country, the media attention, the crowd in the stadium, the TV cameras. It is a big, big difference from what you are used to.

“I really enjoyed the build up to that game.

“I think aside from Simon Easterby, one to 10 on that 2002 team were Munster players, which, obviously gave me familiarity and made it a lot easier to adjust to camp. It was the experience of the likes of Mick Galwey, Anthony Foley and Peter Clohessy that helped me immensely. Also the fact that I knew them so well allowed me to really enjoy the week.”

Since that week, the former Munster captain has gone on to enjoy a fruitful international career that has seen him play in three World Cups – including a landmark win over Australia in 2011, Ireland’s first victory away to a southern hemisphere side. In terms of international silverware, he can boast four Triple Crowns, two 6 Nations championships and one Grand Slam amongst his repertoire, and the second-row stalwart isn’t done yet.

Other notable honours include his 2006 nomination for IRB World Player of the Year, inclusion in three Lions tours (captaining in 2009) and the Irish captaincy – on a stand in basis prior to the full captaincy in recent seasons.

Coincidentally, the Welsh also provide the opposition for his 100^th appearance. So how does cap 100 compare with cap 1?

“In terms of the 100^th cap, there is very little difference between this one and your 99^th or your 90^th or whatever it is. It is just a landmark that some people like recognising.”

“I don’t know if it is nerves or even a bit of stress. When you are coming towards the end you appreciate that there won’t be many more of them. You want them all to be good days. You want to have that feeling in the dressing room after you win. It means more now I think. Now that I am older, I realise that it might have come a little easy to me when I was 22. There were a couple of injuries at Munster and I got in. There were a couple of injuries at Ireland too and I got picked. It all happened really quickly. Now, the more I play, the more I realise how much goes into it and how much the leaders and senior players on the team put into it, to make it easier for a younger lad like me at the time.”

Read O’Connell’s full interview with In Touch Magazine here.

Wales v Ireland, 2015 RBS 6 Nations, Saturday March 14th at the Millennium Stadium – KO 2:30pm.

This game will be televised on RTE2 while you can also follow the action on Twitter: #WALvIRE #ShoulderToShoulder