Time off not part of summer schedule for O’Connell

Ireland captain Paul O’Connell never considered looking for an early summer holiday and is relishing the prospect of leading the international squad on their tour of Argentina next month.

The 34-year-old is very aware that time is running out on a magnificent career and believes that at his age, playing is the best way to maintain his fitness, particularly with a big 12 months coming up.

“I certainly want to go and play” says O’Connell. “I’ve had a frustrating few years in terms of injury and I’ve really enjoyed this season playing games consistently. I’ve had one or two games I missed at the start of the season. I missed one over Christmas and I was sick for the Scottish game, so apart from that I’ve enjoyed playing week-in, week-out.