O’Connell’s French dossier

Ireland’s inspirational second row tells Charlie Mulqueen that dealing with French flair in Paris and that brand of organised mayhem requires self-belief, calm heads and stout hearts.

Brian O’Driscoll: grabbed three tries on Ireland’s last win in Paris, back in 2000.

ONLY Brian O’Driscoll, Ronan O’Gara and John Hayes of tomorrow’s Irish side knows what it is like to beat France in Paris. It happened back in 2000 when O’Driscoll wrote his name indelibly into the history of the game in this country with three great tries. Ever since, though, it’s been a case of the same old story.