Paul O'Connell to step down as Munster captain

http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/provincial/2012/0822/334474-oconnell-to-step-aside-as-munster-captain/

Paulie looks set to step down as Munster captain. He said in the Irish Examiner: "I really enjoyed doing it. I've done it for six years now. It’s something I thoroughly enjoyed, probably not as much in the first few years as I did in the last few years, but I think it might be time for a change at Munster."

O'Connell, who is recovering from a serious knee injury, admitted that without the captaincy he would have more time to concentrate on his own game saying: "When you’re captain, at times you are keeping an eye on everything else and maybe not keeping an eye on yourself as much as you’d like to."
"I've had six years of it now, I thoroughly enjoyed it and I loved doing it but it might be time for change and for someone else to take it on."

I know O'Driscoll found a new lease of life at Leinster when he passed the captaincy onto Leo Cullen.

The next question is who the new captain could or should be. I would imagine that Doug Howlett would be the main candidate followed by Ronan O'Gara and Peter O'Mahony.

I always think captains should be forwards. Do you see ROG leading by example ? He cant have Long left in him.

Munkian,

I agree with you. Forwards or Scrum Half.

Personally I hope ROG is on the bench for us this year.

I actually would love to see Donnacha Ryan as captain.

I think it's about the man more than his position when it comes to being a captain. If it's a back then you need a pack leader in the forwards.

Given POC's injury record and Ireland committments it makes sense to take a step back slightly and let someone else take on the job properly rather than have a vice captain who has to do the job for a large chunk of the season without being able to put his own stamp on the role.

Seems like its a decision he has bought in to, so good for him.
Donnacha Ryan or Peter O'Mahony would be my choices.

It worked for Bod taking some pressue of,

Also Irish internationals, are maybe not the best to have as Captains of Provinicial teams, Take Leinster BoD missing for large periods due to IRFU rest dates, training camps etc etc, So they go with Cullen who misses less.

Rory Best, Kidney keeps calling him one of his leaders, no longer captains Ulster, Muller does, and it makes nmore sense as Muller is available for more games, and can lead the younger players in the pro 12, means the captaincy isn't changing from match to match.

POC isn't going to play a lot for Munster this year, seams to be getting injuried a bit, Ireland games and camps as well, means H-cup a few pro 12 games. It's better to have a captain that will be there in nearly every game.

For me to have a captian that is experienced, there for nearly every game, and a first team choice, would mean it is likiley to be a NIQ player, Howlett for this year.

Think that in future you will see the Provinces captained by NIQ players, or IQ but just on fringes of Irish team (ie Henry for Ulster, in future, maybe Downey for Munster) but the first team Irish players won't be Provincial captains anymore.

I think its yet another sign that this is a new start for Munster.

New coaching team, new captain, new style of play.

Of that fantastic pack we had - Horan, Flannery, Hayes, O'Callaghan, O'Connell, Leamy, Wallace, Foley, Quinlan etc. only Paul O'Connell is still starting.

I think we could have a rocky year this year but Im happy that there is a plan ahead.

Stag, you say you could have a rocky year but surely HC group qualification and a top four in the league should be achievable and in my book would be a reasonable season given all those changes.

red_stag wrote:I think its yet another sign that this is a new start for Munster.

New coaching team, new captain, new style of play.

Of that fantastic pack we had - Horan, Flannery, Hayes, O'Callaghan, O'Connell, Leamy, Wallace, Foley, Quinlan etc. only Paul O'Connell is still starting.

I think we could have a rocky year this year but Im happy that there is a plan ahead.

That was such an amazing pack. Wallace is dearly missed, from both the club and international setup. O'Connell was born to be a leader of men, and I just hope that being able to focus on his own game for the last few seasons rather than the captaincy will let him retire on a serious high...

red_stag wrote:I think its yet another sign that this is a new start for Munster.

New coaching team, new captain, new style of play.

Of that fantastic pack we had - Horan, Flannery, Hayes, O'Callaghan, O'Connell, Leamy, Wallace, Foley, Quinlan etc. only Paul O'Connell is still starting.

I think we could have a rocky year this year but Im happy that there is a plan ahead.

I agree with every single one of those points entirely.

I think the fact that POC is such a stalwart of the old style it kinda makes sense that they are moving the captaincy. I think it will be good for Paul too. I'd give it to Ryan myself (not completely sold on POM yet). Hope that Munster stick with this new style they are talking about even if it means a bit of a dip this year.

Rava wrote:Stag, you say you could have a rocky year but surely HC group qualification and a top four in the league should be achievable and in my book would be a reasonable season given all those changes.

I think we will but thats by no means a certainty.

Rava wrote:Seems like its a decision he has bought in to, so good for him.
Donnacha Ryan or Peter O'Mahony would be my choices.

why replace One ageing lock past his best for another ? Wouldnt be a new start.

Munkian,

Are you thinking about Donnacha O'Callaghan?

Donnacha Ryan is not exactly aging and past his best.

My bad , you guys are as bad as us Welsh with your similar names

Looks like Howlett was captain for the Bristol game and for the upcoming LI game. any chance he’ll hang onto the captains armband for the season?

I wouldn’t give it to ROG, he has a pretty poor record as captain, it doesn’t sit well with him.

Mickado wrote:Looks like Howlett was captain for the Bristol game and for the upcoming LI game. any chance he’ll hang onto the captains armband for the season?

I wouldn’t give it to ROG, he has a pretty poor record as captain, it doesn’t sit well with him.

+1
I can't explain this though. He is a good leader and everyone says so but when he is captain Munster/Ireland don't do as well

munkian wrote:My bad , you guys are as bad as us Welsh with your similar names

Hang on a second, we have similar names.

You have the bloody same name

Stephen Jones, Adam Jones, Alun-Wyn Jones, Ryan Jones, Duncan Jones, Steve Jones, Steffan Jones, Lyn Jones etc!!

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:

Mickado wrote:Looks like Howlett was captain for the Bristol game and for the upcoming LI game. any chance he’ll hang onto the captains armband for the season?

I wouldn’t give it to ROG, he has a pretty poor record as captain, it doesn’t sit well with him.

+1
I can't explain this though. He is a good leader and everyone says so but when he is captain Munster/Ireland don't do as well

If Munster/Ireland don't do well when he is captain then he probably isn't a good leader.
I don't think he should be Captain as I think he wont play/start enough games this year

I don't think ROG is a good leader. He has massive mental strenght but it is inner strenght. I don't think he can inspire others the way he can inspire himself.

As I say I hope that by the end of the year he is no longer 1st choice for us.

Rava wrote:

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:

Mickado wrote:Looks like Howlett was captain for the Bristol game and for the upcoming LI game. any chance he’ll hang onto the captains armband for the season?

I wouldn’t give it to ROG, he has a pretty poor record as captain, it doesn’t sit well with him.

+1
I can't explain this though. He is a good leader and everyone says so but when he is captain Munster/Ireland don't do as well

If Munster/Ireland don't do well when he is captain then he probably isn't a good leader.
I don't think he should be Captain as I think he wont play/start enough games this year

Whatever about Munster, if I see him anywhere near the Ireland squad, I will plutz.

Seemed to be having a good time on the Rose of Tralee last night (my wife made me watch it).

Munster have announced their team to play London Irish as well as the Munster A team to play Connacht.

Munster Team to Play London Irish
01 Wian du Preez
02 Damien Varley
03 BJ Botha
04 Dave Foley
05 Billy Holland
06 Dave O'Callaghan
07 Sean Dougall
08 James Coughlan
09 Duncan Williams
10 Ian Keatley
11 Johne Murphy
12 James Downey
13 Casey Laulala
14 Doug Howlett (captain)
15 Denis Hurley

16 Marcus Horan
17 Sean Henry
18 Stephen Archer
19 Phillip Donellan
20 Tommy O'Donnell
21 Paddy Butler
22 Peter Stringer
23 Scott Deasy
24 Sean Scanlon
25 Luke O'Dea

Munster A Team to Play Connacht A
01 Dave Kilcoyne
02 Duncan Casey
03 John Ryan
04 Phillip Donnellan
05 Darren O'Shea
06 Shane Buckley
07 Barry O'Mahony
08 Sean Rennison
09 Gerry Hurley
10 JJ Hanrahan
11 Danny Barnes
12 Sean Scanlon
13 Ivan Dineen
14 Ronan O'Mahony
15 Luke O'Dea

Some thoughts. This is the third match in a row that new openside Sean Dougall has started. He is like to play much of the opening season. Similarly Howlett has captained us in every pre-season match. He must be the new captain. And Ian Keatley looks like he is the man leading the charge to start the Rabo with the #10 shirt.

I think that the captaincy decision means only that with his knee POC won't be able to play every game in the first half of your season (and your captain should be doing that). He also doesn't need the pressure of captaincy in addition to getting his full game back. Munster has enough potential leaders for this not to need to be the case anyway.

I think that Dougie Howlett would be a good choice - it should be about the man, not where he plays. Great captains have come from all over the place - hooker, lock, openside, scrum half. No reason why it shouldn't be a winger.

The crucial question is whether his is one of the first three names down on every team sheet.

Is Horan seriously the 1st team cover for lose head?

Duigers - Dave Kilcoyne is the cover and Horan is 3rd choice.

pete (buachaill on eirne) wrote:

Mickado wrote:Looks like Howlett was captain for the Bristol game and for the upcoming LI game. any chance he’ll hang onto the captains armband for the season?

I wouldn’t give it to ROG, he has a pretty poor record as captain, it doesn’t sit well with him.

+1
I can't explain this though. He is a good leader and everyone says so but when he is captain Munster/Ireland don't do as well

Not completely true. You might remember when Munster won the HCup in 2008, both POC & ROG lifted the cup - that was because POC had been injured for a sizeable part of the season and ROG was the Munster captain (for all of the pool stages).

They are probably lightening POC's workload in preparation for making him the Ireland captain

Dougie would be an excellent choice - no questions marks over his commitment to Munster. He would also aid Penney & Mannix in helping him to interpret the Munster psychic!

Probably a good idea to take the limelight off him for a while. If it prolongs his career by a bit, then good.

Hopefully, O'Connell doesn't get picked for a potentially career ending Lions Tour next year...................with all the mileage on the clock, that is the last thing he needs.

Think the "captaincy" role is overstated in rugby ..................i believe there should be a new captain every year anyway............

Penney is really starting to put his stamp on things. After the last 3 years its good to see so many changes.

I'm not sure about having wingers as captains myself but on the positive side, Howlett would make a good captain.

I see in the highlights of the Bristol match that Dave Kilcoynes try was right out of Munster yesteryear.

Maul from a 5m lineout stopped short. Scrumhalf takes his time and pops it up to a static forward who nonetheless manages to get over the line.

I just wish to god they would take the ball at pace.

Not too sure who I would have as captain, prob Donnacha Ryan (Earles maybe), as I think it may be a good idea to have someone young-ish who should be around for a good while as the squad is going to be shaken up by players leaving ove rht ecoming years, and to have the captain remain the same may give a bit of stability

Earls isn't a bad shout actually.

rodders wrote:Earls isn't a bad shout actually.

Based on what? He has never shown any leadership qualities that I have been aware of.

Earls is not captain material. Not in a billion years.

Neither had O'Driscoll when he was given the nod.

Based on the fact he's guaranteed to start the big games, he's Munster through and through and despite being fairly young has a fair bit of experience.

There aren't that many outstanding candidates. Ryan has only just nailed a starting spot and POC would still be calling the lineouts if fit. He'd still be the Junior partner in the second row.

Howlett is 33 and will likely be gone before POC.

To be honest the best option would probably be POC continuing for another year and then passing the reigns to O'Mahoney.

I think O'Mahony should get the captaincy. Unlike a lot of players, the added responsibility seems to improve his game rather than distract him, from what I have seen. When he is wearing the captain's armband, he really does stand out and lead by example. I think he was maybe a bit held back for Ireland, at least in his mind, and that could be why he was so anonymous in NZ.

I think being named Munster captain will really bring the best out of O'Mahony.

Donnocha O'Callagahn, only joking although in his book he said he would like to be captain, As a Leinster fan, Drico's choice to hand over the captaincy was a good call and it might work for POC but, I think the captain should be a back as POC is a natural leader so if it was a forward he would be in his ear all the time. Let POC be pack leader so as to appease his leadership tendency.As for the captain, this is tough, I feel Ronan O'Gara as he has experience of it. As long as its a back it will work out well. I mean imagine if Leinster made another back the captain, Drico would have pestered him all day long.

Yeah handing over the captaincy worked well for BOD and also Rory Best but in those instances there were natural leaders to hand over to in Cullen and Muller respectively.

Agree that it would be difficult to give the role to a forward as when POC plays he will lead the pack and still be the go-to guy for Munster for the forseeable future. For things to function it needs to go to a back and only ROG, Howlett and Earls look like candidates and not great ones imo.

O'Mahoney looks the leader in waiting but it is too soon for him imo.

I wouldn't welcome Earls as captain. I don't feel he is a good communicator and is not a man I want leading my club. He is literally just a random choice because he is young, from Munster and likely to start big games.

I would have Doug Howlett as captain with Peter O'Mahony getting the captaincy for RaboDirect games - groom him for the captaincy. Dougie is gone at the end of the year.

drsambo1928 wrote:Donnocha O'Callagahn, only joking although in his book he said he would like to be captain.

I think he would be a good captain in general, I know he has captained midweek Lions teams before. However just not the man to captain Munster I feel.

We need to build a new generation of leaders. The fact is we have few if any natural young leaders apart from Peter O'Mahony.

red_stag wrote:I wouldn't welcome Earls as captain. I don't feel he is a good communicator and is not a man I want leading my club. He is literally just a random choice because he is young, from Munster and likely to start big games.

I would have Doug Howlett as captain with Peter O'Mahony getting the captaincy for RaboDirect games - groom him for the captaincy. Dougie is gone at the end of the year.

Not a random choice at all, I was thinking about who is likely to be there at the start and end of the changing of the gaurd (especially POC and ROG going out and Hanarahan and Neagle coming in?), and then I was thinking about players with experience etc. Seeing as Earls is young, and has a fair bit of experience (he is a Lion) that it may play in his favour over other candiates, who may be better leaders.

Its official. Doug Howlett announced as captain. I'm very happy with this.

Fair play. A logical pick but clearly an interim one until O'Mahoney or Ryan is ready.

Wing is not a great place to captain from but Howlett is hugely respected, very clever, pretty vocal and will always start if fit.

It's a nice honour for him after all he has contributed to Munster.

He's one of the few guys who wouldn't be overawed or oveshadowed by O'Connell or ROG in the dressing room either I'm sure.

Good news. I think the captain should always perform the haka.

Rodders I think having the captain on the wing might even help us make the transition to a more attacking team.

Maybe Stag but the problem is its pretty easy to take the winger out of the game and as a winger you need to be selfish, which doesn't fit well with captaincy.

I think Howlett can pull it off though, he has a great workrate and is hugely respected.

Earls is thankfully not the captain, not sure what to make of Dougie, more of a lead by example guy and you need some of them I suppose we have plenty of vocal leaders. Will hopefully encourage attacking style Penney wants to play.

rodders wrote:Maybe Stag but the problem is its pretty easy to take the winger out of the game and as a winger you need to be selfish, which doesn't fit well with captaincy.

I think Howlett can pull it off though, he has a great workrate and is hugely respected.

Our leaders are all in the pack - O'Connell, Ryan, O'Callaghan, Botha, O'Mahony, Coughlan are all fellas who seem to have a bit of leadership.

I think this is a great move.

I think it is a great call, may aid Munster in taking a slight turn towards the attack/Kiwi/Penny way of things which is something I was worried about with POC as captain.

Another good call Munster fair play

red_stag wrote:I wouldn't welcome Earls as captain. I don't feel he is a good communicator and is not a man I want leading my club. He is literally just a random choice because he is young, from Munster and likely to start big games.

I would have Doug Howlett as captain with Peter O'Mahony getting the captaincy for RaboDirect games - groom him for the captaincy. Dougie is gone at the end of the year.

+1

I think Earls would make an awful captain overall, good player but in my opinion doesn't have anything that would even see him in the running for captain

Penney just wants to show this is a new Munster. Give the captaincy to a forward and he runs the risk of saying things are the same. Howlett is an interim choice and everybody knows that. But you give him the torch now to show the light for the rest of the squad. Get up from the mud, clean off that ball and throw it out to me. I am your light, I am your daily bread and all who follow me will be led to the promised land.

And the heavens opened, there were lots of knock ons and poor passing and there were rumblings of dissent especially coming from the forwards. A plague of rats tore through the team and a new leader came forward...

Ronan the Barbarian.

You read it first here but the film will be out next summer.