How Much Ireland Will Miss O’Connell Summed Up In One Telling Statistic
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Even before Paul O’Connell announced his retirement from the game this week, Ireland already knew he had played his last game for his country following his international retirement during the Rugby World Cup.
An inspirational leader and driving force with Ireland for many years, the former captain lined out for his country an impressive 108 times making him the third most capped player in Ireland’s history.
The 36-year-old was immense for Ireland during his 13-year career in green as he captained his country to last year’s Six Nations Championship as well as being an integral part to the 2009 Grandslam and the 2014 championship-winning sides.
The telling statistic however is the fact that with Paul O’Connell Ireland won an impressive 56% of their games against Tier 1 nations as opposed to only 44% of their games without O’Connell in the side. A natural leader he will forever be etched in Irish history. #ThankYouPaul
56% – @IrishRugby recorded a win rate of 56% against Tier One opposition with @Paul_OConnell in the team, compared to 44% without. Leader.
— OptaJonny (@OptaJonny) February 9, 2016
