O'Connell makes winning return with Young Munster

Back in training for only two weeks, Paul O'Connell bounced back to competitive action this afternoon when he helped Young Munster to a 12-10 AIB League Division Two win over Buccaneers at Tom Clifford Park.

Sidelined by a back injury since the World Cup, the Munster and Ireland second row said: "It's great to be back. We got the win and I came out of it injury free. It was a great day and very enjoyable even if I only played for 35 minutes or so.

"I probably didn't do much. It was all about getting through the game injury free. The back came through it fine."

O'Connell, who was used as a replacement early on in the second half, will see how his back is tomorrow morning before a decision can be made on his fitness for Munster's crucial Heineken Cup tie against Clermont Auvergne next weekend.

"I wasn't that worried about my back as the physios have done a great job on me."

The 28-year-old said that, after the disappointment of the World Cup, what he missed most about the game was not being able to train.

"I enjoy training and the one thing that was needed after thw World Cup to get rid of the disappointment was to get back training.

"I couldn't do that and have only been involved in contact training for two weeks. I had to rest my back and let it recover slowly.

"The conditions today were ideal to test my back with a lot of picking and driving, a lot of defending around the side of the rucks and a lot of scrums.

"It was just great to come back for my first game with Young Munster and great to get the win," he added.