Paul O'Connell: New breed of player makes Ireland a must-watch

UPLIFTING: Dan Sheehan and Peter O’Mahony get in some lineout practice at the Captain’s Run in the Aviva Stadium.Picture: Billy Stickland

It is not often the Ireland management need to turn into salesmen ahead of a home Test match but Paul O’Connell made a convincing pitch for any waverers wondering whether to take the plunge and watch this afternoon’s clash with Japan at Aviva Stadium.

Next Saturday’s visit of New Zealand will not need such efforts with the IRFU reporting a sell-out of that middle Autumn Nation Series game within minutes of tickets going on sale last week. The attractions of that fixture are obvious but it is surprising, particularly given the cheaper ticket prices for today’s game, that Japan do not seem an exciting prospect to the general public, of whom only around 38,000 had taken the plunge up to lunchtime yesterday.