THE END IS nigh. Not of Paul O’Connell or his incredible feats on a rugby pitch, but for his time in a Munster jersey.
After 14 years, 173 appearances, 19 tries, four trophies and a bottomless pit of his own blood and sweat, the Limerick man will take on Glasgow Warriors in Belfast knowing that he will not don the red jersey again.
It’s been a hell of a journey.
Paul O’Connell made his debut against Edinburgh in 2001. 14 years on, he was still carrying the fight to them
Making yards with the ball in hand was never his strongest suit, but it took a brave man to take him down
A natural leader, all other ‘alphas’ instinctively rowed in behind
The ultimate piece of artillery in maul
Be it in attack…
…or defence
As a line-out jumper, he remains imperious
Making red ball steady and opposition possession an absolute nightmare
There were bad days
Sad days
Miraculous days
All of them were Tough Days
But we’ll all remember the great days
One thing never changed, commitment
He’s played against the best
Played with the best
And he has been the best
He has waved goodbye to a golden generation
He’s ushering in a new one
Paul O’Connell, the man that made European rugby fear Munster
Come on Limerick
Great second half from Limerick, but they’d want to sort out those wides.
Kiely very slow to take Hickey off, Mike Casey should be already in
@Gaaonthefence: or Richie McCarthy. Either way get Hickey out of there asap.
Limerick going to regret all these wides
@Kevin Shortall: they sure are Kevin.
@Shane Doherty: as a Kilkenny man I’m delighted
Take nothing away from Limerick, I think the whole country would like to see them do well. But as a Tipp supporter, how James McGrath can officiate at this level concerns me. He is getting even the most basic decisions wrong and is so inconsistent to how he applies the rules. Just rid of Kirwan after years of bias and now we have to watch this clown ruining games.
@Dave Russell: I think the standard is poor across the board but i suppose it is a thankless job. Is there a case to look at two referees on the pitch at either end.
Here we go again, ref doing his best to ruin it, major boo boo in this lad yet ..
@Gerry Campbell: or the fact that Limerick can’t stop giving away stupid frees
@Tom49: they are all frees alright….and thats coming from a limerick man
@Tom49: well undeniably true Tom .
Very poor referee? Compliments to both teams that the game didn’t boil over?
Killing ourselves with the wides but great to see some discipline in 2nd half, great start to the campaign and something to build on now! Hon Luimneach
Well done mike ryan
Great day. The RESSURECTION started that day