O'Connell: Big game will make me Lion

Second-row giant Paul O’Connell believes a strong performance against England on Sunday would guarantee his place on the Lions tour.

O’Connell has been championed as a Test certainty against the All Blacks this summer and has even been touted as captaincy material, although Ireland team-mate Brian O’Driscoll is odds-on favourite to lead the tour.

A big game against England locks Danny Grewcock and Ben Kay would probably make him Clive Woodward’s first choice in the position, providing the outstanding Munster forward with a massive incentive at Lansdowne Road.

“Danny Grewcock has three caps for the Lions and has many more for England. Ben Kay is a big-game player and has done it time and again for Leicester. They’re both setting the standard at the moment,” he said.

“If Malcolm O’Kelly and I want to step up to the level these guys are at we need to perform against them. Games like this decide whether you make the Lions tour or not. You have to produce against these guys.”

Ireland registered a stunning 19-13 victory over England in last year’s RBS 6 Nations, ending their 22-Test unbeaten run on home soil – a sequence which stretched back to the 1999 World Cup.

Eddie O’Sullivan’s men were magnificent at Twickenham but the world champions contributed to their own downfall with a shocking display at the line-out which resulted in hooker Steve Thompson being substituted early in the second half.

A delighted O’Connell and O’Kelly cleaned-up at the set-piece but Ireland’s stand-in skipper is not expecting more easy pickings on Sunday – despite evidence against Wales and France indicating that England are still struggling in this department.

“Last year England had a few crooked throws and a few missed calls. That, coupled with us stealing two or three of their balls, made it look like we had done a big job at their line-out,” said O’Connell.

“We had done well but they suffered a few system errors and I can’t see those being repeated on Sunday. The mistakes of last year are not going to happen again. Days like that are always around the corner if you’re not clicking at 100%.”

He added: “England are a very good side – they only just lost to Wales and France. There aren’t many weaknesses in their game.

“Maybe their pack has lost a bit of experience with guys like Martin Johnson and Neil Back retiring, but that’s the only thing missing. It’s going to be a very tight match – only a few scores in it.”

The satisfaction of winning at Twickenham was all the more acute for those players humiliated 42-6 by England in the 2003 Grand Slam decider – a match O’Connell vividly remembers.

He said: “It was 13-6 when I came off the bench and 42-6 when it was finished. I hope there’s not a connection there! But we’ve developed since that match – we’ve picked up a little more experience.

“We’ve picked up experience at international level and a lot of us know what it’s like to win big games at provincial level.”

Controversy reigned moments before kick off in Dublin two years ago when England skipper Martin Johnson refused to move his players after being told by officials they were standing in the area reserved for the Ireland team.

Johnson’s belligerence prompted a chorus of boos and it meant the teams took their positions for the national anthems in the same half of the pitch, but O’Connell understood his decision.

“Once they were there it would have looked bad had Martin asked his players to budge. It worked out for him on the day. He knew what he was doing – he was making a stand and that’s what you have to do in rugby,” he said.