O’Connell retains dream of Lions return

Paul O’Connell refused to rule out making a third Lions tour this summer but suggested the odds would be long given he is likely to miss the RBS 6 Nations this spring.

Speaking for the first time since undergoing surgery to correct a bulging disc in his back 10 days ago, the 2009 Lions captain confirmed his likely return to action with Munster would be “sometime in April”, a scenario that rules him out of Ireland’s Six Nations campaign and therefore, the 33-year-old believes, makes him an outsider for selection to Warren Gatland’s Lions party heading Down Under for a three-Test series with Australia in June and July.

“It’s going to be very difficult,” O’Connell said of his Lions prospects at a press conference in Limerick yesterday. “You would imagine the Lions squad is going to be picked on the basis of the Six Nations so it’s going to be very difficult to make it on that trip.