O'Connell signs new two-year deal with IRFU
Already one of rugby's hottest properties at the relatively tender age of 24, O'Connell might well have been lured to England or France but preferred to stay put and continue his development in an environment where undue demands will not be made on his stamina and staying power.
"This is my first full Six Nations and it's been an unbelievable experience: from captaining the side over in France and beating England at Twickenham and now facing into a Triple Crown match at the week-end," he said. "It's a pity there are only five games in it. I have played only 17 or 18 games since last summer, including the World Cup. It's spread out over a lengthy period and I feel quite fresh. Sometimes you read about guys being overplayed and mentally tired and you can start believing it. But I've played a very reasonable amount so while sometimes you can convince yourself that you are tired, there's no actually reason why you should be.
"That's one of the reasons I am signing up for another two years. It's something you can't value enough. This is the first year in which I have felt fully match fit. Now you're maybe playing two or three games in a row, then getting a week-end off, and that's the right way to recharge your batteries. In England, you have a lot more league games, Heineken Cup, Powergen Cup, so they probably do get a bit of a raw deal even if the money is maybe a little better over there. By the end of the season, though, I'll have played about 25 matches. That can only be good for the longevity of people's careers and will keep you fresh and ready for action."
The bruised ribs that kept him out of the Italian game are healed and he's set for Saturday's battle for the Triple Crown. In a strange kind of way, he believes the injury has served as something of a wake-up call.
"I watched the [Italian] game at home on telly and it was very difficult to do so. When you've been there all along and miss one week of it, it really sends it home to you how lucky you are. While you never take it for granted, it sometimes takes a little jolt like that to be at home when everybody else is playing in front of 45,000 people at Lansdowne to make you realise how good it is. It makes you worry that you mightn't get your place back. There are regulars on the team who pick up an injury and take a while to get back in. I was afraid that might happen to me because it's a very competitive atmosphere and it's brilliant for the team and the management to have that embarrassment of riches."
"The World Cup was a massive disappointment. We didn't perform. I think we showed against England what we're capable of and it's a pity we couldn't pull out a performance like that against France in the quarter-final. Losing to them again in the first of the Six Nations matches was another downer. We never threatened to win the game. It could have been a lot closer if we hadn't made so many little errors but since then everything has picked up.
"Against France, we made defensive mistakes but it wasn't that they were camped in our 22 hammering away at us like in the old days. We knew there was a lot more in us and it has gone on bit by bit since then. The England game will live in everyone's memory but this team will have to start expecting more occasions like that, putting pressure on ourselves not just to beat England on one-off days. Are they going to be wheeling this one out like they were the previous one from '94. Hopefully, with the team we have now, we can have more repeat performances like that.
"The team is good enough to have more days like these, they should be commonplace. We should be putting ourselves into this position more."