Allez Paulie: A tribute to Paul O’Connell

IN a country more than willing to celebrate great sportsmen and women, very few have made such a positive and inspiring impression as Paul O’Connell, the Young Munsters, Munster, Ireland, British and Irish Lions forward, and leader among leaders. 

Relentless time and plausible rumour combine to suggest that he may play his last game in the red of Munster this evening when he appears in the Pro 12 final against Glasgow in Belfast.

One of sport’s great attractions is that it so often puts flesh on the cliché; that it so often shows us at our best and most committed.