Paul O’Connell has said being unable to play for three-in-a-row champions of Europe RC Toulon is one of the few major disappointments of his glittering career.
The former Ireland captain announced on Tuesday he would be retiring from professional rugby, and therefore would not be able to fulfill his contract with the French Galacticos.
It was against France O’Connell’s career came to an end, with the talismanic lock badly injuring his hamstring during Ireland’s 24-9 Rugby World Cup win over Les Bleus at the Millennium Stadium.
Speaking on Today with Sean O’ Rourke on RTÉ Radio 1 , O’Connell has said he didn’t know just how severe the injury was when he he sustained it on the stroke of half time.
He said: “All injuries seem bad when they happen but it was probably only in the weeks afterwards I found out how a bad an injury it was and how difficult it was to get back from.
O’Connell was forced off the pitch in Cardiff on a stretcher, in what ultimately proved to be his final act on a professional rugby pitch.
He said: “Unfortunately progress has been very slow for me and I won’t get back to where I was. I have decided to retire and I won’t be taking on the big adventure in Toulon. It’s a big disappointment. I was really looking forward to it, Emily [HIS WIFE]was really looking forward to it, the kids were looking forward to it.
“You are either going to get back to being able to be strong and fast and powerful again or you’re not”
“It’s unfortunate but it is what it is, I had a very, very enjoyable and long career... It’s unfortunate what happened in the French game but I’ve been very lucky on the whole.
“I hated saying it, to tell people. I have told a small few people now and I hate having to tell people and say it because it has been a massive part of my life”
“I honestly thought right at the time ‘my career is over’. I thought I won’t get to go, I won’t get to experience France for a year and-a-half and learn the language and do all the things I was really looking forward to.
“In the weeks after that, I knew a few guys that had rehabbed the injury and come back from it and come back from it in a decent time. I did it a lot worse than a lot of other people had seemed to have done it. Getting back to where I was just wasn’t going to happen unfortunately.”
"I look at someone like Felix Jones, who I'd be very close to, retiring in the last few months...I consider myself very lucky. It's unfortunate what happened in the French game but I've been very lucky on the whole.
“It isn’t really a decision that is difficult. You are either going to get back to being able to be strong and fast and powerful again or you’re not. That makes the decision for you and you get on with it then. That’s what I do anyway. I don’t dwell on it anyway. You just have to move on. Once I kind of realised it.....I was rehabbing it away all the time and I was kind of trying to ignore the bigger picture.
“I was kind of trying to ignore whether it was going to come right or not. I was just trying to work very hard. I was doing about four and a half hours a day. I was just trying to work very hard and not go home then and see if I was feeling better or not keep asking the question.
“Eventually you kind of had to and unfortunately it’s just too bad an injury in a very difficult place, particularly for rugby players. People might say I wasn’t very fast and powerful anyway but every bit of power and speed you have comes from that area. So once the decision was made, once I realised it in my head, it wasn’t difficult. I was disappointed but I think you can only be disappointed about things you can do differently.
“You can look back on something you might have done differently but I don’t think there is anything else I could have done so you just have to start moving forward.”
O’Connell revealed his decision to retire had been made at the start of the month, and how Toulon had been understanding of his decision.
He said: “The thought [OF RETIRING]had been knocking around in my own head but until you say it to someone it’s not kind of real. I just had a chat with my wife about and spoke to my Dad about it then. I think some people are kind of glad that I’m retiring. It’s a strange sentiment from people sometimes but it’s a nice sentiment as well.
"I came across some really nice people [IN TOULON]. I had lunch with Diego Dominguez last week in his house in Toulon. I told him where I was on it. He was very good, I had a great chat with him. He is very excited about the challenge he has in taking over next season.
"Tom Whitford, the English manager, would be a guy I had a lot of contact with. Terry Stone, the physiotherapist down there. Mourad Boudjellal as well, they were very good when I told them. Mourad said to me that you'll never be able to say you won at Mayol which I thought was interesting. They were very good to me and very understanding.
“I hated saying it, to tell people. I have told a small few people now and I hate having to tell people and say it because it has been a massive part of my life, rugby. Even in the last week, I have noticed my diet has already gone out the door because I’ve known myself. It has been a strange week but Toulon were great. It has been a strange week.”
