Paul O'Connell wants Ireland's good habits to continue against Wales
Ireland forwards coach Paul O'Connell said players "need experiences to learn what it takes" to win matches at Test level. Pic: ©INPHO/Ben Brady
Paul O’Connell has urged Ireland’s players to continue the positive habits they developed through a rough patch of form and displayed against England into the final two games of the 2026 Guinness Six Nations as the team bids to find some much needed consistency.
Ireland welcome winless Wales to Aviva Stadium this Friday night as their championship campaign resumes for a penultimate game following a fallow week in the competition. A mini-camp last Wednesday and Thursday for the core of the Irish squad saw Andy Farrell’s squad review their record Twickenham victory over England last Saturday week and while there was much to admire in a performance which delivered a 42-21 win, forwards coach O’Connell saw it as a product of the tough lessons picked up across a difficult stretch of games in 2025 and into the opening round of the current campaign.
Losses to both New Zealand and South Africa piled the pressure on the Ireland camp and that did not relent at the start of this Six Nations when France hammered Farrell’s men 36-14 on the opening night in Paris on February 5.
A narrow 20-13 win at home to Italy in round two restored some momentum without being a convincing performance but the rout of England has delivered a performance from a new-look side which bodes well for the remaining two games, with a home clash against Scotland to follow the Welsh challenge eight days later.
O’Connell is looking for Ireland to pick up where they left off at Twickenham. Ireland have welcomed back experienced midfielders, Bundee Aki from suspension, and Robbie Henshaw from injury, though the in-form Stuart McCloskey should retain his place at inside centre following an excellent championship to date, with his Twickenham performance his best yet.
The groin injury sustained against England by another veteran, wing James Lowe, and the ongoing absences of Hugo Keenan and Mack Hansen should mean a continued run for the less experienced back three of Jamie Osborne, Rob Baloucoune and Tommy O’Brien as younger players are given a further opportunity to build their Test match exposure while extending Ireland’s improved form.
“Some of our stuff around our habits were really good at the weekend (against England). They're exactly what you're looking for and they were pretty relentless from the start of the game to the finish.
“Guys need experiences to learn what it takes. In the past few years we've had a very, very experienced team on the field. That's changed a little bit.
“The French experience for so many of the guys, the South African experience for so many of the guys, even the Italy game is a great experience for them. I think our best players, the guys that have the most influence, are the guys that are the most consistent in how they train and how they prepare. And on the back of that, they're the most consistent in how they play.
“We need that across the board but guys need experience to learn that as well and you get better on the back of that. So I would hope that we continue in the vein that we were in England in terms of some of the habits, in terms of some of the relentlessness we saw from the players. I would hope that will continue and improve this weekend.”
O’Connell warned Ireland supporters to pay no heed to the current doomsaying around Welsh rugby as they prepare to welcome a side showing signs of recovery under new head coach Steve Tandy.
The former Munster and Ireland captain equated his own squad’s retirements of key leaders since 2023 with Wales’s own changing of the guard but backed Tandy and his assistants to get Welsh rugby back on its feet.
“I think they've probably got a coaching group that really know what they stand for. To me, they have really good players. They have really good athletes. They just need that direction and guidance from a good coaching group. I think they're going to get that.
“I know they're going through tough times in the last few years but they're still going to have to go through them. But they'll get better.
“I was thinking this morning about some of the players that have left, the Sam Warburtons of this world. Justin Tipurics, Alan Wyn Jones. The influence they have around the playing group is absolutely massive. We've experienced it ourselves here with the likes of Johnny, Peter O'Mahony, Conor Murray going. How guys train and how they prepare and how they care about the team. The difference they make to everyone around them is phenomenal.
“So I'm sure a few of those leaders are going to begin to emerge now from them over the next few years.
“So I think they have what it takes to start getting better. We've seen it already. I don't think some of the results we've seen in the past from Wales are going to continue.”
The objective, of course, will be to avoid becoming the first team to hand Wales their first Six Nations win since round four of the 2023 championship, their March 11 win of that year against Italy giving way to a 14-match losing run in the competition. O’Connell outlined what Ireland needed to do to extended that miserable Welsh run at least a little longer.
“It'll be down to a load of small things. It won't be any one thing.
“I think we're good when we have clarity around what we're doing and we're doing every little bit of our game as well as we can. We're not too focused on what the result is going to be or what the occasion is. We're just excited about doing our way better. That's when we're at our best. Hopefully that continues this weekend.”
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