In his latest O2 Rugby blog, Ireland lock Paul O’Connell gives his feelings on the historic Rugby World Cup win over Australia and offers an insight into life off the pitch.
I went for a scan in Rotorua and it revealed nothing more than a mild strain of the hamstring. We had to be up early yesterday morning to move to Lake Taupo so it wasn’t until 1am on Sunday morning that we finished packing and repaired to town for a few beers after the victory over Australia.
It was literally that and then back to the hotel within a couple of hours for an 8am start to our new base.
It’s a beautiful place and I am sharing a massive three bed apartment with Keith Earls and Conor Murray. Some of the boys went down to a local driving range that offers ,000 for a hole-in-one at this specially constructed hole.
The diameter is probably an inch and a half wide according to the boys. Needless to say none were successful.
The victory over Australia was brilliant primarily because we played to our potential. That was hugely satisfying. It was very frustrating not to be hitting our straps in the build-up matches and the first pool game against the USA.
It’s a great feeling to have done that. It’s the same for any team that win, lose or draw, you can look at the integrity of the performance and be satisfied you’ve delivered on that aspect.
There’s no question of getting carried away on the strength of the result. We have put ourselves in a position to qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament but to achieve that goal requires us to back up Saturday’s performance with two of similar quality against Russia and Italy.
Related Links –
Paul’s blogs are on www.O2.ie/rugby
Follow the Ireland team in New Zealand on www.twitter.com/irfurugby.
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