Irish squad wanted Paulie as captain

Peter O’Mahony admitted the entire Irish squad were secretly hoping Paul O’Connell would be named Irish captain yesterday.

“It’s great to have Paulie back fit and I don’t have to explain to anyone what he means to the squad. Obviously for me he’s a talismanic leader, someone who I’ve always looked up to,” said the 23-year-old who succeeded O’Connell as Munster captain. “It was kind of unsaid all week, everyone was waiting for a captain, but everyone was just waiting for him to named, you know. That’s just the way it goes, the way it is with him.”

O’Mahony heaped praise on O’Connell for all the help he gave him to develop as a player and become the captain of Munster.