O'Connell looks to banish Paris blues

Irish great Paul O'Connell will hope he wakes up in Paris on Sunday and have at last experienced what it is like to have beaten France in Paris.

The 32-year-old - who will be winning his 84th cap since making his debut in 2002 - has rarely been part of an Irish team that has got the better of the French with just one win in 12 matches going back to 2003.

That one win in Dublin came in the Grand Slam winning season in 2009 and while hopes of a repeat of that disappeared last Sunday, with the last-minute defeat by Wales, victory over France in Paris would still mean a lot to the Munster lock.

Victory would be all the more special as O'Connell will captain the side in the absence of the injured centre Brian O'Driscoll - whose hat-trick of tries brought the Irish their last victory here in 2000. The only survivor from that team is fly-half Ronan O'Gara, who starts on the bench.

O'Connell, who despite a great record as captain of Munster has a poor one when he has captained Ireland, acknowledges that to break his drought in Paris he and his team-mates have to improve from the Wales clash.

"There's a lot we have to improve on. Some of the silly errors we made against Wales we must cut out," said O'Connell, who was captain of the British and Irish Lions team that lost to then world champions South Africa in 2009.

"Against France away from home you need to start well. It's frustrating that I haven't beaten France in Paris, but we have a team that can do it."

O'Connell, father of a year-old son Paddy he had with his girlfriend Emily, his partner since the age of 20, said the team needed to be more defensively aware after conceding three tries to the Welsh and on several occasions being caught down the blindside.

"We need to improve our span defence in not getting caught out down the flanks, keep our eyes peeled and be more alert, otherwise the French will take full advantage of that," said O'Connell, who will once again team up with Munster sidekick Donncha O'Callaghan in the engine room.

"You can't give France anything easily over there and that's what we did against Wales.

"We gave away easy yards and turned over possession too easily. That's nearly a blueprint for not winning in Paris," he added.

O'Connell, a two-time European Cup winner with Munster under Ireland coach Declan Kidney, said that they had to seize the initiative unlike in Dublin against Wales where they were strangely subdued for the first 20 minutes.

"France gather momentum when they're playing well, so we can't afford to concede that momentum. We must be accurate and enthusiastic.

"It will be a massive challenge because they're an excellent side. They looked very good at times against Italy last weekend.

"But when you look at our team and the experience we have, we can certainly do it."

Certainly O'Connell will hope that should victory be Ireland's he remembers more of it than he did his debut against Wales when he was knocked out just two minutes in but, typically determined, played on and scored a try.

"I eventually had to come off and I looked up at the clock, which said two minutes and 30 seconds," said O'Connell, scorer of six tries.

"I turned round to our doctor and said 'I can't believe I'm coming off after only two minutes of my debut'.

"But he laughed and told me the clock was counting down, not showing how long had been played. I didn't even remember scoring."

AFP