A relatively unknown young second-row had only one AIL game under his belt before the start of last season, yet when asked about him, the Young Munster coach John `Packo' Fitzgerald simply stated: "He'll play for Ireland." Talk about baggage, but Paul O'Connell has worn it well.
In Young Munster's stirring defeat by Shannon last Saturday, O'Connell was again making Fitzgerald's words look credible. He busts a gut to hit rucks and make tackles while as a genuine fourth back-rower he is a skilled and athletic ball-carrier. Admittedly he has on occasion demonstrated a short fuse, while his line-out play could be a bit more exceptional in keeping with the rest of his game. But talk about a talent.
After his latest tour de force in a losing cause, O'Connell was again being hyped up by his current coach Matt te Pau. "Paul O'Connell is one of the best second-rows this country has to offer. After a while someone has got to take notice. It shouldn't be what club you play for. It should be down to 80 minutes and you and I know that if it's down to 80 minutes that guy is the business," said te Pau, who reckons O'Connell is good enough to be playing provincially in New Zealand now.
The thought occurred that Connacht would be a convenient stepping stone. "I don't think that Connacht is the answer for Paul," ventured te Pau. "He's got to be playing to the ability around him. Paul is from Munster, he's always wanted to play for them since a young age. Last year he went over to have a look at Harlequins and the only thing that brought him back here was his love for the town, the club and the province here."
All very commendable, but in all of this, provincial coaches, club coaches and players alike are guilty of somewhat one-dimensional thinking. They could and should be more flexible. If Mick Galwey, John Langford, Mick O'Driscoll and Donnacha O'Callaghan are still ahead of him in the Munster pecking order, then O'Connell should go to Connacht, even temporarily.
Indeed, in the event of an injury crisis Connacht would be quite willing to return the likes of O'Connell from whence they came at short notice. Hence an indeterminate `loan' for talented young players on the fringe of Munster and Leinster would be a good investment for the player and both provinces.
A year ago, certain powerful figures within the IRFU were seemingly intent on running Connacht out of business, and trimmed their budget to an estimated £500,000. However, there's been a changing of the guard and of the mood toward Connacht, and it looks like their budget will be restored to what it was last season, albeit some 50 per cent short of the others.
If the IRFU are intent on having the western province curtail their overseas' contingent, then every effort should be made to supplement their more indigenous squad with fringe young players from other provinces. Sources indicate that the likes of Andy Dunne, Simon Keogh, John Fogarty, Peter Bracken, Paul O'Connell, Aidan McCullan and others will start next season with Connacht. This is an overdue and exciting development.
Connacht have proved their mettle in developing the likes of Damien Browne and Johnny O'Connor from within this season. The game is reaching out there like never before at schools' level and the pick of their younger crop have made more strides at Irish under-age level in the last year or two than ever before, even if they still seem to be getting suspiciously short shrift from the Academy. In hindsight, Connacht's double whammy over Leinster at both under-21 and senior level in the Sportsground this season was a significant life saver.
So too, in a roundabout way, was Brian O'Meara's successful switch from Munster to Leinster. He will henceforth be held up as a template, something Warren Gatland himself has strained to do in publicly encouraging Tom Tierney to move.
NO DOUBT Declan Kidney is a bit peeved by all of this and who could blame him with his scrumhalf resources reduced from three to one.
Furthermore, with the advent of the Celtic League, and/or extra international demands next season, all the provinces and especially Munster will have to rotate their squads more than ever.
Similarly, Leinster's plethora of fullbacks may soon trickle down to the bare minimum, though like Tierney, Gordon D'Arcy (frustrated by lack of opportunities at fullback in Leinster and, apparently, the peanuts he is being paid) is being linked with Ulster as well as England.
Fine, but what the hell is wrong with Connacht? They play the same number of interprovincial and European games as the other other provinces. The European Shield may have little of the cache attached to the European Cup, but the difference in playing standards is negligible. The bottom line therefore is that Connacht players will be in the shop window as much as their counterparts. Thus, if existing avenues are currently closed off, the message should be quite simple Go West, young man.
Connacht's injured outhalf Simon Allnutt utilised his spare time to record visually the squad's season and this has been made into a video entitled Camping with Connacht. Judging by the packaged highlights, it is a humorous, fly-on-the-wall, and not exactly formulaic video. At £10 it's good value (cheques can be made payable to the Connacht Branch at Unit 30, Liosban Industrial Estate) and for a good cause, to raise funds for Allnutt's friend Paul Clarke, who was rendered tetraplegic after a car crash last year.
gthornley@irish-times.ie
