Munster coach Anthony Foley says he has not discussed with Paul O'Connell whether the Irish captain will continue playing international rugby beyond the World Cup: he is just delighted O'Connell has signed up with Munster until the summer of 2016.
Foley says the achievement of O'Connell and the Irish squad in retaining their Six Nations crown is a huge boost to the country, not least because of the manner in which they won it.
But whether that was O’Connell’s final Six Nations game is not something Foley has spoken to his former Munster and Irish team-mate about. “He gets asked that quite a lot,” says Foley, “but to be honest with you I haven’t even talked to him about it but I know he’s contracted up to the end of next season so that’s the way I view it.
“I think for the whole country, everybody who is Irish has a massive amount of pride with what happened at the weekend both with the women’s and the men’s teams. To win two championships like that within a day of each other – it is something that hasn’t happened before so it is something that everybody involved in rugby is quite proud of where they are at the moment.”
According to Foley the leadership shown by O’Connell was crucial, while the experience players have gleaned from tight European matches with their provinces was also vital.
“I think he was brilliant,” says Foley. “The experience that they have had over the last number of years particularly in what they have to go through in Europe in terms of qualification; I think having that and having the ability then to use that experience in not to get too confused about what they needed to do and concentrate on their own game. That was the thing that got them over the line. It was a great day of rugby.”
Foley is hoping that the feel-good factor will have an impact on his Munster side, who resume their bid for Pro12 glory when take on Connacht on Saturday when they will be bidding to gain revenge for a 24-16 loss at the Sportsground in January.
They will be without lock Donnacha Ryan whose return from a foot injury which sidelined him for a year has been interrupted by a head injury picked up in an ‘A’ game against Ulster last week. “Unfortunately Donnacha Ryan won’t be available this week. He took a bang in the head and hasn’t progressed well with his return to play protocols.”
Other than the trio who started in Murrayfield, Munster’s Ireland contingent were back in training in Limerick yesterday but it won’t be clear until Thursday who will be available to play.
“We have given it until Thursday before we need to make a decision on some of these guys, see how they rock up after the Six Nations and we have got to do the right thing by them.”
Hooker Mike Sherry is continuing to make progress while Tyler Bleyendaal, the former Canterbury and Crusaders out-half or centre, whose signing was announced last May on a three-year deal, is back in full training after undergoing surgery on a neck injury last autumn and could feature before the end of the season.
“You don’t want to put too much pressure on the lad after major surgery and all that but he is over here and he’s here to play rugby so our goal is to get him back in proper condition to hopefully wear the jersey,” says Foley.
