Paul O’Connell keeps it short and sweet, but European Ryder Cup team 'thoroughly inspired' nonetheless

Paul O’Connell went into the European Ryder Cup team room on Tuesday night with no intention of providing inspiration, merely to talk about what being a team player meant to him. 

Needless to say, his audience could not help but be inspired.

Handed a remit by captain Darren Clarke to underpin his key theme of being shoulder to shoulder this week at Hazeltine National as Europe’s golfers defend the Ryder Cup on American soil, O’Connell brought some serious intellectual property to the table.