Paul O'Connell will captain Ireland

Paul O'Connell will captain Ireland in this season's Six Nations Championship, the Irish Rugby Football Union has announced.

The Ireland coach, Declan Kidney, has turned to the Munster lock in the absence of regular skipper Brian O'Driscoll, who will miss the tournament while recovering from shoulder surgery. O'Connell was captain of the 2009 British and Irish Lions in South Africa, and he will lead Ireland out for their Six Nations opener against Wales in Dublin on 5 February.

In terms of individual captaincy, arguably little difference, but in terms of losing a player of BOD's experience as a key element in Ireland's leadership team, massive loss imo, even if he's not quite the player that he was at his height (and he's developed ways to get around a modest lessening of his powers)

Paul O'Connell is one of the outstanding players and leaders in world rugby so if he plays then he captains. It's a no brainer really.

When is the Ireland squad announced?

Greaty player and great leader, but will he be around in 4 years? No.

So what if he´s not around in four years. Plenty of rugby to be played before now and the World Cup. You can bet your bottom dollar the caretaker coach for England will pick a caretaker captain for England. And why wouldn´t he? As a caretaker coach he needs immediate results. No planning for the future. He needs success right away.

Ireland have a 6N campaign and a chance to improve on a World Cup campaign that started so promisingly and then ended up in familiar tears. BOD is not only a great leader but a lynchpin in the backline for Ireland. Not only will he be missed as a player but also the stability he offers in the backline for Ireland. D'Arcy has not been in great test form recently so much like England they will have to go looking for a new settled centre combination.

In the meantime it makes abundant sense to let those backs concentrate on their own game and give the captaincy to the player in the forwards who has been playing some of the best footy of his illustrious career. A no-brainer like rodders said. And the next World Cup doesn´t matter a jot. Winning the 6N championship and the 3 match series in NZ is the immediate priority for Ireland.

bathmad wrote:Greaty player and great leader, but will he be around in 4 years? No.

Possibly but I doubt he'd be the same force at 35. He will be around for 2 though.

There actually aren't that many players who would be nailed on for the starting XV right now, and of those not that many have captaincy experience or that much experience full stop. Realistically you're looking at Rory Best or O'Connell otherwise you would be plumping for someone like Heaslip or Rob Kearney who have no captaincy experience.

O'Connell is a HEC winning captain, a former Lions captain and the long standing vice captain so it doesn't make any sense to give the nod to anyone else, especially as he is playing extremely well right now.

I've said good idea;
1 - definite starter
2 - a strong voice on the pitch
3 - a leader

He ticks all the boxes. Who else is close when I try to think through a side;

Healy - a definite starter but doesn't have 2 or 3 (or does he?)
Best - worth a shout (ticks 2 and 3) but if Flannery ever gets back is he the starter (small question mark)
Ross - a definite starter at this stage but not a 2 or 3
4 jersey is up for grabs
POC - chosen one
SOB - would captancy role and responsibility stifle him?
Ferris - ticks the boxes but would he be fit?
Heaslip - a possible option but does his persona mean he would lead this team?
Murray - too early
Sexton - would captancy role and responsibility stifle him?
Earls - does he tick any of the boxes?
12 jersey is up for grabs
BOD - once fit might get the role back
Bowe - a definite starter but is a winger going to be the leader and the voice of the team?
Kearney - at the minute a definite starter but is he really ticking 2 or 3?

I think while a BOD, POC, Best, ROG is around the starting 15 the captancy follows them in that order. Ferris, Heaslip, Sexton, Kearney behind them?

thebandwagonsociety wrote:
I think while a BOD, POC, Best, ROG is around the starting 15 the captancy follows them in that order. Ferris, Heaslip, Sexton, Kearney behind them?

Hmm maybe. ROG is not a certain starter anymore so that would rule him out for me.

Ferris has never stuck me as a captain and with his knees is no more likely to make the next RWC than O'Connell. Heaslip has been up and down with his form in recent times and can be a bit petulent so maybe his star has fallen a bit.

Sexton comes across as a potential leader but needs to nail down the 10 shirt and a lot of people have touted Kearney but for me when Felix Jones comes back he might be under a bit of pressure for his place.

Healy and O'Brien both look like certain starters for some time to come so could be options in the longer term.

Its hard to look past O'Connell, Best and Kearney right now.

thebandwagonsociety wrote: Best - worth a shout (ticks 2 and 3) but if Flannery ever gets back is he the starter (small question mark)

Huge question mark.

Even if he does come back , which I very much doubt (at least to Internatioanl standard), Flannery would not make the side. The WC secured Best as Irelands No 1 Hooker

I'd have Heaslip as captain. About as nailed-on as a starter as possible.

Great video of O'Connell's credentials as captain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhgt2pnSywI
lol

bathmad wrote:I'd have Heaslip as captain. About as nailed-on as a starter as possible.

..really? Of all the backrow he is the least likely to hold onto his place. He had a very poor RWC.

gowales wrote:Great video of O'Connell's credentials as captain
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhgt2pnSywI
lol

Great team talk...pity we lost...

Its the best call. He is a born leader and has experience of it at the highest level. He ticks all the boxes and then some. Paulie's the man.

Best is next in line. Flannery is finished - so forget him.

Cronin is still learning on the job. He has improved imeasurably under Feek and Gibbes.

Future, long-term Captain possibilities? Sexton & Kearney. Forget Heaslip or SOB.

Kearney as captain is a strange call IMO. Also, being captain from full back I think would be pretty difficult. Generally I think a captain is best picked from the forwards. For the next world cup I see Best captaining Ireland possibly.

Hmmm, no Brian O'Driscoll???

.........let me see then.............

I have very strong reservations because I don't like him as a player and I like him even less as a person. He's a fine age and a long time going but what has he done in real terms? Absolutely nothing when you analyse it honestly. He's got the stature but I think he's no ovals when the chips are down.... He won't play enough of the Leinster way to make him effective anyway. And he's much too much a Munster man to think Ireland. He pretends to be mean but he's only a pup. He can't sing or make speeches without laughing. He has red hair..... he's the bottom of the barrel but we're stuck with him I suppose.....

Paddy McCann it is so...and may the Lord help us.

In a more serious vein, if I'm capable! ... I think Paul O'Connell was always the right choice. I don't think Brian O'Driscoll ever needed it. I know he wanted it but I don't think he needed it to enhance his role or his reputation, and at times it did look a burden on his shoulders.

I think a captain has to be a natural team player and despite him adding to the team in his unique way, I don't think O'Driscoll has ever been a natural team player. It's his singular vision and independence of spirit and deed that has set him apart. In ways a stubbornly self reliant player who doesn't find mentoring/advising during a game all that easy or all that interesting.

Paul should get it and in reality I think he should keep it. Brian needs his own time when he comes back. He needs to have one last shot at filling a few more pages in the history books and he'll need to be unapologetically selfish and focused on his own game to write a nice final chapter.

That's a good shout SecretFly. Hopefully BOD has still some rugby in him and he can contribute to the smooth transition of a few changes in personnel. Taking the captaincy away from him allows DK also to properly manage BOD back from injury. As captain, you´re loathed to take your captain off the field or starting the game without him. But if he's not captain, then you can ease him back into test rugby and also develop another player in his place. And, like you point out SecretFly, you can also just have him focus on his own game and see how many times he can make the try line.

bathmad wrote:Greaty player and great leader, but will he be around in 4 years? No.

Not sure if its been mentioned elsewhere yet but O'Connell has extended his contract until 2014 so could well still be at the helm in the next World Cup now.

https://www.606v2.com/t21238-paul-o-connell-signs-new-contract