Paul O'Connell claims 'inconsistent' Ireland not at level of 2022/23 vintage
Forwards coach Paul O'Connell during Ireland Rugby squad training at SeatGeek Stadium in Chicago, USA. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
In the hectic, harried world of international rugby, nine years is a lifetime. Yet narrowing things down to nine games doesn’t help much either. On Saturday in Chicago, Ireland’s coaching staff will stand for the anthems and then move the musical chairs one more time.
Having had Andy Farrell, then Simon Easterby, then Paul O’Connell in the biggest chair, Farrell will re-assume his spot and, nine games later, Ireland will be back where they started.
The location being Soldier Field has ensured plenty of talk of 2016’s breakthrough but in the more recent history of this rivalry, Saturday shapes as something different. For the first time since July 2022, Ireland will face down the haka as the lower-ranked of the two nations.
O’Connell, content and comfortable back in assistant mode here this week, admits the Ireland of 2025 are not the same as the 2022/23 vintage. ‘Inconsistent’ was the first adjective reached for. His temporary spell in charge may be over but he still has all the clout in the world to challenge these Ireland players to get back to the level of two years ago.
“[We’re] probably a little bit inconsistent. We had a really good start to the Six Nations…then we were a little bit inconsistent after that and that's frustrating for us as coaches, in terms of what we are doing. It's frustrating for the lads as well,” O’Connell observed.
"That was a hallmark of that good period of form, it was a real consistency to how we played and how we delivered our game and that's the challenge for us as players, as the squad evolves bit by bit, that's the challenge for us — is to get back to that.
"We are trying to develop squad depth the same as anyone else, but probably we're trying to win now and in the future, and that's really important for us. We're trying to evolve rather than make big changes. We're always trying to figure out ways to build depth, looking forward to the World Cup, but also trying to maintain what we stand for as much as possible.”
Halfway through the cycle for a next World Cup there is plenty of chatter around Ireland’s age profile. O’Connell lamented the injuries that ruled Munster forward talents Brian Gleeson and Edwin Edogbo out of this weekend’s clash: “Edwin in particular, we've been trying to get in for a while.”
One absentee has created opportunity for others — Saturday will mark Ireland’s first game against a Tier 1 nation since the retirement of Peter O’Mahony. It would be a fine time for new pack leaders to step up.
“There's guys growing into the roles now, the likes of Dan Sheehan, you would have seen him captaining on the Lions. There’s guys assuming that kind of mantle," said O'Connell.
"Pete’s strength was he was able to do the right things at the right time. There was an intuition there that comes from being a good rugby player. There’s an experience there that you just can't get until you've had it. You look at Ryan Baird or you look at Cian Prendergast captaining at Connacht, they're accumulating a lot of experience now.”
Then there’s Tadhg Beirne, who returned in indomitable fashion for Munster two weeks ago, O’Connell reaching for totemic parallels of other previous Irish generations.
"He's such a smart rugby player in terms of the decisions he makes,” added O’Connell. “It looks like he doesn't move as quick as other guys but he actually is quite fast off the mark. He's a little bit like Anthony Foley, he's ahead of the game all the time. That’s been his trademark over the last few years.
"It was brilliant to see him, coming back in his first game. [He’s] a little bit maybe like Sean O'Brien, I remember when I played with Sean, he'd come back after a three or four-month hip injury where he wouldn't have ran more than 5 or 6km. He'd come back and he'd be the best player in the field because he just was constantly ahead of the game because of the habits he had. Tadhg is a little bit like that.”
With Easterby joining Farrell Down Under this summer, O’Connell kept that spinning chair warm for Tests against Georgia and Portugal, bringing Denis Leamy, Mike Prendergast and Colm Tucker along for company. The elevation gave him new perspectives.
“I was the coach taking time away from the assistant coaches where I used to be and I'm back being the assistant coach now looking for more time.
“That's the biggest learning for me in it and probably a little bit of a better understanding of what a player goes through on the whole in a week. When you're a line-up coach or a forwards coach or whatever, you just have to be cognisant of all the information that's going into a player, be it defence, be it attack.
“[Andy] constantly challenges you on time and your messages and the length of it and how many are in it. I found myself doing that as well during the summer and I enjoyed that part of it.”
Yet, for now at least, he feels no rush to make head coaching a more permanent thing.
“I'm very happy in the trenches. I just feel like I'm learning all the time and still have so much to learn,” insisted the 46-year-old who will mark five years in the Ireland set-up come January. “The way Simon might put together a week when he was coach or the way Andy might put together a week, sometimes I wouldn't see it that way yet.
“I still feel I'm learning in that regard and I think as an assistant coach there's so many experiences you can have that can help you if you ever want to be a head coach and I still feel I'm very much on that journey. So, it's a great experience for me to be able to go and do it for a little while and then duck back into what I'm more used to as well.”
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
