Recently retired captain Paul O’Connell may not spend too long away from Irish rugby, if the upper echelons of the IRFU have anything to do with it.
A hamstring injury sustained at last autumn’s World Cup forced the player into retirement a year or two before he would have hoped.
But O’Connell is a natural leader and friends and experts in the game expect him to turn his hand to coaching sooner rather than later.
Former Ireland and Munster teammate Ronan O’Gara said in April that it was, “no secret of the two of ours that we want to team up. It’s about getting the right opportunity”.
O’Gara is currently coaching in France, and added: “Any fella who has his head screwed on will be looking to snap him up.
“It’s a case of trying to get a plan together between us and start competing as a unit, because that’s what we both want to do.”
But judging by comments from IRFU performance director David Nucifora, efforts are being made to keep O’Connell closer to home.
We said it before, we'll say it again. Thanks @Paul_OConnell #ThanksPaulie #ShoulderToShoulder pic.twitter.com/OTo2F1snBM
— Irish Rugby (@IrishRugby) February 9, 2016
“He’ll make his decision when he’s ready about what exactly he wants to do, but we’ve been in touch with Paul, we were speaking to Paul before he retired about what the future might look like,” Nucifora told the Irish Independent.
“You don’t want to waste a resource like Paul O’Connell, he’s got a lot to offer Irish rugby going forward. We’re just working with Paul to work out the best way of utilising what he brings to our game.”
News Ireland fans will be delighted to hear.
