O’Connell contract talks with Munster at ‘delicate stage’

Ireland captain Paul O’Connell wants to continue playing beyond the 2015 World Cup but has admitted negotiations over a new contract with Munster are at a “delicate” stage.

On the day his province announced they had secured the services of fellow British & Irish Lions star Conor Murray on a two-year IRFU contract through to June 2016, the 34-year-old lock said he was hopeful of signing a new deal like the scrum-half 10 years his junior but intimated he was still undecided about where his future lies.

Asked if he would follow Murray and commit his future to Munster, O’Connell said: “Hopefully, look, my contract – I’m trying to figure out my future at the moment and it is kind of delicate. It’s not something I want to discuss.