Paul O Connell

[Leoslovechild]

Best of luck to him in his retirement.A great servant in fairness to Munster and Ireland

[FrankBurke]

A great player & captain. Many thanks Paulie.

[blockhead]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHc2Ywd ... 5E25319BA2

[Flash Gordon]

There are just no words that are adequate to describe this guy's contribution to Munster, the Lions and Ireland. Super player, unreal dedication and an absolute gent off the pitch. Definitely a lad destined to be on of the coaching greats.

[domhnallj]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHc2Ywd ... 5E25319BA2

Brilliant

[olaf the fat]

Hero

[enby]

Amazing to think that 2014/15 was probably his best one for Ireland. Great player, great man

[Fred Funk]

Thanks

[Cianostays]

The guy will go down, deservedly, as one of the greatest sportsmen this country has ever produced. Not the way he'd have wanted to bow out but hopefully he'll enjoy a bit of down time and can reflect on an astonishing career.

Thanks Paul

[cwebber82]

Absolute diamond of player.

The best lock of his generation and one of the best players of his generation.

A gent off the pitch who never embarrassed his province or country with childish behaviour. Always conducted himself with class.

All the best for the the future Paulie.

[Blue not red blood]

A truly great leader

[jezzer]

Talking to a fair few English fans last weekend and in every conversation they were harking back to "If Martin Johnson was here...." "Martin Johnson would never have..." "what Martin Johnson gave us was....". It's more than a decade since he played for England and the feeling is England have never set the standards for themselves that they did when Martin was running the show. They're probably right as well.

We can expect to be having those convos in a decade's time about Paulie. Yes, he was/is a gent and a well-spoken guy who appreciated the fans and the other aspects to his job. But he was universally feared by his own team and by his opponents. His own team because he wouldn't let anybody off the hook, by opponents because he brought it every match and made them up their game or be marginalised by his on-field dominance. It doesn't come around often and we're going to miss it. England have gone 12 or 13 years without having a leader that could hold Johnson's ballsack (keep that mental image for the rest of the day!) and if Harley is the best they can find it might be another while yet.

We're in for a similar wait to try to replace to some degree what he brought.