No pain.
Paul O’Connell is a leader of men.
The Irish captain personified that Invictus poem on Sunday afternoon: ‘My head is bloody, but unbowed.’
Faced with the very real possibility that his legendary Irish career has come to an unfitting, premature end after being stretchered off against France, O’Connell watched on as his 13 years of full-hearted service to the green jersey inspired the men he has led to two Six Nations in a row to go and stand tall on their own.
He watched on with pride. And, even in his personal angst and considerable pain, the Munster man put all that behind him because Ireland had achieved something special. His troops had stood up to the test. And that’s all that he cared about.
All he cared about was Ireland.
“It is difficult and I felt awful for him. Probably the fact that he has been around more than any of us, especially at World Cups,” Rob Kearney discussed his skipper’s misfortune after the France game. “But it was great to see the sheer delight after the game in terms of what we had achieved as oppose to feeling sorry for himself. That was brilliant to see and a great sign of the man, that he was able to put his own woes behind him and was able to think of the team first.
“He was just delighted and beaming from ear to ear. When you consider that he was so happy and ecstatic after the game and the pain he had been in at half time, it’s little moments like that making changing rooms after games so very special.”
But, whilst the whole team will feel the blow of a potential loss to O’Connell, Rob Kearney insists that it is not something any of them can dwell on. As if Paulie would want them to.
“There is not much I can say in the next 30 seconds that is going to sum up his contribution to Irish rugby and this World Cup,” the full back stated. “If he is ruled out, it is going to be a monumental loss to us. I think the form he has been in has been superb and he looks as though he is really enjoying his rugby too. I think when guys look like they are enjoying themselves that is when they get the best out of themselves.
“If it is a case he’s out, we will be massively gutted and we will have lost one of our key players.
“But as I say, we have to get on with it as quickly as we can. And I don’t mean that in a bad way. It’s just the nature of World Cups.
“I think at half time [of the France game], there were probably mixed emotions. You are seeing your captain injured heavily and losing your out-half and your star man. But you are filled with a huge amount of confidence when you see the likes of Ian Madigan and Iain Henderson coming on and seeing their contributions to the game.”
That confidence must be carried over. They have no other option. They must continue to drive forward, without O’Connell or not. And it’s certainly not the time to be celebrating after a fantastic group game. Ireland have been here before.
“We were here four years ago and topped the group,” Kearney reflected. “Everyone thought we were brilliant and we went out and we got pumped by a really good Wales team. We dont have much time to sit around and think about this great performance we had yesterday. We have to move on really quickly.
“Apart from the Australians, I think the Argentinians have probably been the most impressive side. Their ability to score points has been very very strong throughout the tournament and we just need to make sure that we are focused as quickly as we can be.
“It is different to four years ago because we are a very different team to four years ago. Our mental strength in terms of how we approach games on a week to week basis has improved massively and this will be a big test for us.”
