Paul O’Connell’s 24-hour drinking binge after devastating Rugby World Cup exit
Sure, we’ll have the one.
Ireland’s 2011 Rugby World Cup quarter-final defeat to Wales hit Paul O’Connell harder than most.
Having topped their pool with a famous win over Australia, Ireland’s campaign came to a sudden halt — and for O’Connell, the comedown was immediate. Hours after the defeat in Wellington, sleep wasn’t an option.
What followed has since become one of the more infamous post-match stories in Irish rugby, taken from O’Connell’s book ‘The Battle.’
“I got dressed, pulled my hood up and went walking. I texted ROG and asked where he was.”
“2.40 am: Text from Rog: ‘We’re at Cully’s bar. Come on down.’”
“2.50 am: The Four Kings… I hadn’t even been thinking about having a drink, but someone ordered me a beer.”
That one beer quickly turned into something far more.
After briefly attempting to call it a night, O’Connell’s route back to the hotel took another turn — quite literally.
“5.30 am: On my way back to the hotel, I met a man from Drogheda dressed as a leprechaun.”
“Then I ran into Fergus McFadden, so we had a couple more in the bar — me, Fergus and the leprechaun.”
“Before we knew it, it was nine o’clock.”
By morning, the night had firmly rolled into day — and the stops kept coming.
“9.30 am: The D4 bar… We ordered the $20 Big Brekkie… I was drinking some kind of sparkling wine because I couldn’t stomach anything else.”
“10.30 am: The leprechaun ordered whiskeys all round.”
Even a brief return to the team hotel didn’t slow things down.
“1 pm: A few beers with Mam and Dad back at the hotel.”
From there, the day blurred into more encounters, more pints, and more stops across Wellington — including a meeting with Wallaby great John Eales — before things finally began to wind down.
But not without one last push.
“Me: Earlsy, look at this place! It’s eighties music night!”
“Earlsy: ‘We’re going home.’”
“Me: Ah, go on! We’ll just go in for one…”
“Earlsy: ‘No. We’ve enough for one night.’”
Eventually, common sense prevailed — just about.
“3.15 am: I set the alarm on my phone for nine.”
A brutal World Cup exit… and one very Irish way of dealing with it.
