‘I like reading about the Kilkenny hurlers’

Johnson and Dallaglio said the Lions Test series win was the pinnacle of their careers. So Paul O’Connell recognises how much is riding on today’s clash against South Africa in Pretoria. He discussed this and more with Edward Newman

WE ARE sitting in a business conference room of the Castletroy Hotel, the afternoon before Munster’s last game of the season. The buzz and the light had gone out of their campaign after the Heineken Cup defeat to Leinster, but life goes on for Paul O’Connell. The Lions tour to South Africa is the only show in town now and everyone wants a piece of Paul.

“I think definitely a lot more people recognise you, and there’s been an incredible amount of media stuff. But in Limerick things are pretty much just the same,” he smiles.