Eight years now and Jamie Cudmore has been hearing about Paul O’Connell.
He had heard about him long before that but ever since the pair boxed the pan of each other at Thomond Park, back in 2008, they have been indelibly linked.
The only problem is, both men get on very well with each other. If anything, their scrap brought them closer together.
The fight broke out during a Heineken Cup game between Munster and Cudmore’s Clermont-Auvergne. The Canadian threw the first punch and O’Connell almost sought permission – or waited that split second to show he was defending himself – before going full tilt. Both men were left with battle scars.
O’Connell got a yellow but Cudmore was sent off. Ever since then, they have fielded questions about the other man yet, all the while, insisted there was no problem.
Cudmore is now 38 and at Oyonnax but he is still going; still playing for Canada. He will miss Saturday’s Test against Ireland after getting his hand broken in a ruck but will be on Sky Sports punditry duty with none other than O’Connell. The lock tells us:
“I hope they don’t show those clips. That’s long, long in the past.
“The media try to make a lot more out of it than it actually was. We’re both of the same opinion. There’s never been any animosity between us and we’ve always had a good laugh after the games, and a pint.
“We [Cudmore and his wife, Jennifer] have a wine label and I passed him a bottle of red and a bottle of yellow and we had a joke about what happened in ’08 and he took it in good humour. He’s a consummate rugby man.
“The ethics around the game, we have the same ideas around it. When it’s done, it’s done. At the final whistle, it’s over and you shake hands and get on with it.”
Cudmore and O’Connell going for pints after the game? Watch out Dublin.
Cudmore has highlighted another Munster lock as one of the hardest opponents he has faced during his time in the game. “The big, skinny guy who plays for Munster… Ryan.” Informed it is Donnacha Ryan, he continues:
“He was always a real tough competitor; started against the All Blacks. It is great to put yourself up against the best in the world and those guys are definitely up there. It was always huge for me to have a battle against the rest of the world and see where you stand.”
Cudmore will also be hoping to catch up with Joe Schmidt, his former coach at Clermont and a man he says brought a real precision and clarity to everything he did.
“You could tell he was a teacher earlier in his life,” says Cudmore. “He is very good at making difficult things sound simple, and passing a message across. He tailor-made all the different phases and ways we needed to play so that everybody could understand what he wanted.
“He’s a really nice guy and a good teacher but he also demands perfection. He demands precision.”
Many of the players – within and without the current Irish squad – will tell you about the high, exacting standards Schmidt expects.
“He’ll give you a chance, maybe two, but if you’re not performing, well, it’s see you later.”
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