Paul O'Connell

Paul Jeremiah O'Connell (born 20 October 1979) is an Irish former rugby union player and coach.

When he stopped playing, he was Ireland's third most-capped player (108) and the eighteenth most-capped international player in rugby union history.

During his career, O'Connell captained Munster, Ireland and the British & Irish Lions.

He is now the forwards coach for the Ireland national men's team.

O'Connell was born in Limerick, Ireland to Mick and Sheila O'Connell.

He attended the Model School and Ardscoil Rís, Limerick where he initially excelled at swimming and only started playing rugby at the age of 16, playing for the school in the Munster Schools Senior Cup and representing Irish Schools in 1997–98 along with international teammate Gordon D'Arcy.

He also played five consecutive games with the Ireland U21s with Donncha O'Callaghan as his second row partner.

O'Connell completed 3 out of 4 years of a Computer Engineering degree at the University of Limerick, before deferring the remainder of the degree to concentrate on rugby.

O'Connell made his debut for Munster on 17 August 2001, in a Celtic League fixture against Edinburgh.

His Heineken Cup debut for the club came in a home fixture against Castres Olympique which Munster won 28-23.

He started for Munster in their 2002 Heineken Cup Final defeat to Leicester Tigers on 25 May 2002.

O'Connell made his debut for Ireland against Wales in the 2002 Six Nations Championship, starting alongside Mick Galwey and scoring a try.

Despite scoring this try, O'Connell has no recollection of the first half, recalling: "I scored a try but I don't remember it. I went to tackle Craig Quinnell and he knocked me clean unconscious with his elbow. I played on for another 25 minutes, scored a try and then, eventually, with seven minutes left in the first half, I came around. I didn't really know what was going on and so I walked off the pitch."

O'Connell was part of the Munster squad that won the 2003 Celtic League, beating Neath 37–17 in the final.

He scored two tries in a 35-12 victory over Wales in a World Cup warm-up game against Wales in August 2003 and was rewarded with a place on the Ireland squad for the 2003 Rugby World Cup.

He played against Romania, Namibia, Argentina and Australia in the pool stage, and the 43–21 quarter-final defeat to France.

In Ireland's opening game of the 2004 Six Nations Championship, O'Connell captained the side in the absence of Brian O'Driscoll.

He also played in the game against Scotland on 27 March 2004, in which Ireland won their first Triple Crown for 19 years.

O'Connell also gained silverware on the club front when Munster won the last final of the Celtic Cup, defeating Llanelli Scarlets 27–16 in Lansdowne Road on May 14, 2005.

O'Connell was selected in the squad for the 2005 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand.

He won his first Test cap for the Lions on 25 June 2005, starting in the first test defeat to New Zealand.

O'Connell also started the second and third tests.

O'Connell was an integral member of the Munster team that won the 2005–06 Heineken Cup, scoring a try in the 19-10 quarter-final victory over USA Perpignan and playing a crucial role in defeating Leinster 30-6 in the semi-final and Biarritz Olympique 19–23 in the 2006 Heineken Cup Final.

He was also part of the Ireland team that won a Triple Crown in the 2006 Six Nations Championship, playing in a dramatic 24-28 victory over England to clinch the Crown.

He scored the last International try at the Old Lansdowne Road before it was demolished and rebuilt as the Aviva Stadium, in a 61-17 victory over the Pacific Islanders.

O'Connell was shortlisted for the International Rugby Board player of the year in 2006, and was the only Northern Hemisphere nominee.

The other four nominees were Dan Carter, Richie McCaw, Chris Latham and Fourie du Preez, with McCaw being named the eventual winner.

O'Connell again took over from an injured O'Driscoll as Ireland captain in their historic match against France in the 2007 Six Nations Championship, the first rugby match ever played at Croke Park.

O'Connell was awarded the Man of the match accolade following Ireland's historic 43–13 win over England at Croke Park a week later.

He was named in Ireland's squad for the 2007 Rugby World Cup on 12 August 2007.

His campaign started against Namibia, who, despite being the lowest ranked team in the competition, only lost 32-17 to Ireland.

After the game, O'Connell admitted: "A few of the more experienced guys need to start performing better and start leading the team a bit more."

O'Connell lined out for another disappointing Irish performance six days later when Georgia came embarrassingly close to beating Ireland, eventually only losing 14-10.

O'Connell's world cup ended after Ireland recorded two defeats against France and Argentina, meaning Ireland crashed out in the pool stage of the tournament in one of the lowest points in Irish rugby history.

O'Connell became Munster captain in July 2007, succeeding Anthony Foley.

He led Munster to their second Heineken Cup triumph in the 2007–08 season, playing a crucial role in the lead up to Munster's sole try in their 16–13 defeat of Toulouse in the 2008 Heineken Cup Final.

He also led the side to victory in the 2008–09 Celtic League.

O'Connell's ability to steal Welsh line-out ball was a key role in Ireland's 17-15 victory over Wales which granted Ireland the 2009 Six Nations Championship and a first Grand Slam in 61 years.

He played in all of Ireland's 2009 November Test matches, with Ireland claiming a draw against Australia, and two wins over Fiji and South Africa.

On 21 April 2009, O'Connell was named as the British & Irish Lions captain for the 2009 tour to South Africa.