He’ll be back.
It was a night of celebration and frivolity but Paul O’Connell took on a serious, considered tone when the subject of his injured teammate was raised.
O’Connell was in Dublin, last night, to pick up his Rugby Writers of Ireland ‘Best Player’ award.
He joked about his rugby renaissance, his age and his head size before getting to the meaty topics – Ireland’s World Cup chances and the loss of a player who looked in top form until injury struck.
Tommy O’Donnell was a good shout for man of the match in Ireland’s 35-21 win over Wales, last Saturday, and presented his case for World Cup selection in the best possible light.
However, with six minutes left, O’Donnell was tackled by two Welsh players. The jarring impact off the pitch caused him to dislocate his hip. He is unable to place any weight on the repaired hip until the end of September and his World Cup dreams are over.
O’Connell, his captain, had some stirring words of support for the flanker.
‘The thing with Tommy is,’ he began, ‘and I know him a long time, it took him a long time to break through at Munster.
‘He’s a great example to any young player to just kept his head down, he’s worked his socks off and when it comes to training and when it comes to his lifestyle – the other 20 hours away from the training field – Tommy would be the ultimate professional in that regard.’
O’Connell continued, ‘That’s one of the reasons everyone feels for him because it’s recognition of how hard he’s worked. The shape he was in was phenomenal, he’s a special type of athlete, he played incredibly well against Wales but that’s the game and the sport.
‘I spoke to him on Sunday and he accepts that it’s part and parcel of games, sometimes you’re unlucky. He’s a tough rehab ahead of him but there’s no doubt he’ll be back.’
Turning his attention to this Saturday’s match against Scotland, O’Connell believes the win over Wales has laid down a marker to the rest of the squad.
He said, ‘It’s results like that at this time of year are a good thing, they raise the bar, they put the onus now on the team that plays on Saturday to prepare 100 per cent to the best of their ability to deliver in terms of accuracy, in terms of detail that the group last Saturday did.’
Asked about Ireland climbing to number two in the world, O’Connell remarked, ‘Unless the pools are being drawn for the World Cup any time soon it’s irrelevant for us.’
