Paul Jeremiah O'Connell is not moving to Toulon. Where he intends to be after October 31st (the World Cup final date) will be revealed following a family holiday with Emily, Paddy and Lola.
D day is coming sometime in June. Be patient.
There's a sense that O'Connell will play on for one more year, with Munster and Ireland, but so much can happen between now and then. He's had a remarkable injury-free run of late.
What we do know is Ireland’s captain has something up his sleeve.
“I certainly haven’t spoken to Toulon or been over there or anything like that,” said O’Connell on a rare visit to Dublin as an adidas brand ambassador.
And anyway, his national contract runs until June 2016 so, in reality, the option of riding into the Mediterranean sunset would require a dispensation from the IRFU.
“No, there are no options to do anything. I am contracted with Ireland until June 2016,” he confirmed.
We press for clarity: does that rule out a season playing abroad?
“I suppose it does rule it out really. Yeah. Yeah, it does.
“If I am thinking about it (moving abroad) it’s only because I am reading it in the papers,” he added. “The big decision is whether to stay playing after the World Cup.”
That would be his fourth major tournament.
French option
But the French option, maybe even as a coach after 2016, lingers. He speaks weekly to former Munster team-mates Ronan O’Gara in Paris and Mike Prendergast in Grenoble, both currently assistant coaches in the Top 14.
He’s also still in touch with former British and Irish Lions strength and conditioning coach Paul Stridgeon, who is now with Toulon.
Ali Williams and Bakkies Botha are retiring so the European champions are seeking at least one new lock of similar stature. Their captain Carl Hayman is also departing.
Maybe it’s just smoke streaming out of French media chimneys but a chance to be handsomely paid to play alongside Ma’a Nonu, Quade Cooper and the rest or just to see the world with his young family has to be appealing.
“Hopefully, that can happen whether it is inside or outside rugby. I’d love to settle in Limerick but I wouldn’t see myself settling there just yet.”
O’Connell is certain about one thing – the difficulty of playing for Ireland while earning a living in France. The Johnny Sexton lesson has been well learned.
“You look at Johnny, if you want to play at your best for Ireland I don’t think playing in France is the answer for any Irish player.
"Look at this Six Nations when Johnny played these big games for Ireland when there's a lot of pressure on him; outhalf is probably the most stressful position on the team, and we then have a down week when we can train hard but mentally switch off – he had to travel home and play in a big game. It's not an easy thing to do."
O’Connell wants to keep playing for as long as possible. He will turn 36 on October 20th, between the quarters and semi-finals, but the Six Nations’ outstanding performer appears to have brought a new dimension to his play. Remember the two clean line breaks in Cardiff. The first try in Murrayfield. Thirteen tackles in the brutal French victory. Besides a niggly shoulder problem, he feels rejuvenated.
Rare opportunity
Walking away after the World Cup offers the rare opportunity of going out on his own terms.
“It would be a natural exit point I suppose. I have chatted to so many people about it and people talk about retiring at the top and all that. While I agree with them it is very hard to walk away when you are really enjoying it.”
Like so many of the great pugilists, he’s not sure how it will end.
“There is a part of me that would love to have the decision made for me because then I won’t be, in five years time, wondering could I have played another little bit.
“And when you are at the top it’s so enjoyable. It’s very hard to walk away and feel good about the decision. It’s very hard to walk away and move on to whatever you are going to do next and not have any regrets.
“Obviously you can’t stay there until you are falling apart. It’s trying to find the balance in that.”
O’Connell, above all others in Irish sport, has surely earned this time to seek that balance. There has also been some learnings from the long goodbyes of the other rare breeds.
“I met AP McCoy a few weeks ago and he said he was kind of punishing himself, he made a decision and he’s making himself stay with it. I thought it was a strange thing to say and I don’t want to do that to myself yet until I’m 100 percent sure of what I’m doing.
The advice
“I envy the position Brian was in – he was 100 per cent in no doubt it was the right thing to do. I think he kind of kicked on and went for another year. I spoke to him recently and he doesn’t regret that in the slightest. That’s the advice he gave me, if you are in doubt, he had no regret about going an extra year.
“Look, it’s not a bad position to be in, to be playing well and for people eager for you to play on.”
Be it six or 13 months, the end is coming. Think back. His body has been on the rack many, many times. In early 2013 it looked like he was in decline until the Heineken Cup quarter-final victory over Harlequins at The Stoop (a herculean display which secured his place on a third Lions tour).
“I thought I would be limping towards the World Cup, trying to keep my body together, and knowing that the World Cup is a natural end for me. I suppose being in good shape and having a good season has made me think twice about it. I am 85-90 per cent towards a decision.
“I know I’m going to have to have some kind of an answer for you hopefully in preseason.”
Are we tormenting you?
“Ah no. Look, I know my own family, my friends are eager to know what I am going to do. I normally know exactly what I am going to do and when I am going to do it. I really wish I had a bit more clarity for you.
A winger
“I definitely don’t see myself doing a
Brad Thorn
and playing until 40 but I am in a position where if I was a winger or something, this would be a very hard thing for me to do.
“Speed isn’t a massive part of my position. Fitness and being able to get through work is probably the big part of your fitness and maybe age doesn’t affect that as much as it does in other positions.”
That sounds like one more year. Unless the World Cup exacts an unexpectedly heavy toll on him.
Anyway, the chieftain will tell his tribe the decision before he tells any of us.
