‘I CAN’T START with a curse’, smiles Paul O’Connell after he’s done just that.
It’s a reflex to a question about where Harlequins are dangerous. O’Connell begins reeling off the names at the heart of the Premiership champions.
We’ve done a lot of work on Harlequins in the last week and we realise how good a side they are. It’s a big mountain for us to climb,” Says O’Connell with the tone of a man itching to put theory into practice.
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“They’re a team that can play it every way. They’ve a big, strong pack. A good line-out, scrum and they maul well. But having said that they off-load very well and they’ve an expansive game.
“Nick Evans is a very good kicker, so we have to be disciplined as well. It’s easy to see why they’ve been so successful over the last couple of years and why they’re premiership champions, so it’s going to be a tough game for us.”
The last Lions captain appears to have suffered no ill effects a fortnight after making his return from a back injury.
O’Connell had surgery on a bulging disc over the New Year period, but after contrasting fortunes in his two March outings he is well and truly back in the old routine.
“I was delighted after the Connacht game to be back playing. That faded away after the Glasgow game with the realisation of how poor we were – I think we played an excellent first half , but the second half was disappointing and that brought us back to earth with a bang.
“The happiness of being back playing is gone and I’m back into working hard with the team and I’ve put the injury behind me and I’m trying to focus on making sure we put together an 80 minute performance – which we haven’t done in the past two weeks.
“We played in fits and starts [against Glasgow], aside from two interceptions in the first half I thought we played well, but in both games we haven’t done it for 80 minutes.”
Little wonder O’Connell preferred not to take the Lord’s name in vain.
Munster have a mountain to climb against 'Quins - O'Connell
‘I CAN’T START with a curse’, smiles Paul O’Connell after he’s done just that.
It’s a reflex to a question about where Harlequins are dangerous. O’Connell begins reeling off the names at the heart of the Premiership champions.
We’ve done a lot of work on Harlequins in the last week and we realise how good a side they are. It’s a big mountain for us to climb,” Says O’Connell with the tone of a man itching to put theory into practice.
“They’re a team that can play it every way. They’ve a big, strong pack. A good line-out, scrum and they maul well. But having said that they off-load very well and they’ve an expansive game.
“Nick Evans is a very good kicker, so we have to be disciplined as well. It’s easy to see why they’ve been so successful over the last couple of years and why they’re premiership champions, so it’s going to be a tough game for us.”
The last Lions captain appears to have suffered no ill effects a fortnight after making his return from a back injury.
O’Connell had surgery on a bulging disc over the New Year period, but after contrasting fortunes in his two March outings he is well and truly back in the old routine.
“I was delighted after the Connacht game to be back playing. That faded away after the Glasgow game with the realisation of how poor we were – I think we played an excellent first half , but the second half was disappointing and that brought us back to earth with a bang.
“We played in fits and starts [against Glasgow], aside from two interceptions in the first half I thought we played well, but in both games we haven’t done it for 80 minutes.”
Little wonder O’Connell preferred not to take the Lord’s name in vain.
- Reporting by Aoife Danagher. Follow her on Twitter here.
UPDATE: No approach yet, says McKenzie as O’Shea reiterates ‘Quins commitment
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European Rugby Champions Cup Conor O'Shea Harlequins Munster Paul O'Connell paulie or jesus? Rob Penney