O’Connell fired up for battle

PAUL O’CONNELL is looking to the past as he prepares for the future.

Ireland begin their Six Nations campaign away to Italy on Saturday on the back of a poor autumnal campaign and shorn of key personnel. Against that backdrop, and diminished expectations, the big second row references history as a counter argument to those peddling doom and gloom statements.

O’Connell explained: “We’re in a very similar situation to where we were in 2009, we just need to build momentum. We have a big physical battle away to Italy first up, and the loss of two of our most physically dominant players — Jamie (Heaslip) and Stephen (Ferris) — isn’t going to help that cause.”