Paul O'Connell's Reaction to being asked about winning the WC

Trabejo

I have just read a piece in the IT where our captain, Paul O'Connell, is being interviewed. The article was typical stuff to be expected from an Irish professional rugby player coached in media skills but there was a part that stood out to me.

When O'Connell was asked about Ireland's chances of winning the WC he replied:
"O’Connell laughed off one question put to him as to whether he’d like to win the World Cup."

I do believe Ireland have the ability to win the World Cup and I just worry about the teams attitude if their own captain reacts like that to the idea.

Ceadog

What rugby player wouldn't want to win the RWC? Ridiculous question that deserved to be laughed at.

Trabejo

Ceadog wrote: »

What rugby player wouldn't want to win the RWC? Ridiculous question that deserved to be laughed at.

Sorry I should have put it in context. He was laughing at the suggestion of Ireland winning the world cup. Not whether he wanted to win it or not

irishbucsfan

Trabejo wrote: »

Sorry I should have put it in context. He was laughing at the suggestion of Ireland winning the world cup. Not whether he wanted to win it or not

What makes you think that? The way it's written it sounded like he was laughing at the question, not the prospect.

Tefral

Rugby players are well versed in the way to handle the media. The amount of self belief these guys have is unreal. Do you think he would come out and say "Yeah we will win" so that Steve Hansen and Warren Gatland can print it off and stick it all over the walls of the dressing rooms?

Paul is being coy for a reason

We might as well not bother going so. Italy looking good for their first 1/4 final.

The Rape of Lucretia

Probably just nerves. Feeling the heat that he might not be on the pitch as a Toner-Henders 2nd row beat the blacks, and Heaser will be the man to lift the Bill ?

smiley_face

irishbucsfan wrote: »

What makes you think that? The way it's written it sounded like he was laughing at the question, not the prospect.

Exactly, it's a stupid question, course his reaction is going to be a laugh.
Irish people don't like to sound cocky anyway, so even if the question was will you win the World Cup he'd probably laugh at that too, but wouldn't mean anything other than a stupid question.

phog

He should be stripped of the captaincy and dropped from the squad.

The cheek of him.

BBDBB

quoted this from the BBC Sport website

The Irish captain says the analysis following the 16-10 home reverse laid bare the size of Ireland's challenge in chasing their best-ever World Cup run.

"I'd love to win a World Cup but it's a long, long way away," said O'Connell.

"And I'll tell you, the Monday morning after the Wales game, when we reviewed it, it felt a long way away as well."


Seems a very reasonable and calculated response at this stage

The Rape of Lucretia

BBDBB wrote: »

quoted this from the BBC Sport website

The Irish captain says the analysis following the 16-10 home reverse laid bare the size of Ireland's challenge in chasing their best-ever World Cup run.

"I'd love to win a World Cup but it's a long, long way away," said O'Connell.

"And I'll tell you, the Monday morning after the Wales game, when we reviewed it, it felt a long way away as well."


Seems a very reasonable and calculated response at this stage

Paul O'Connell Not Hopeful of World Cup Win

"Legendary Irish captain Paul O'Connell believes Ireland have little hope of winning the world cup, freely expressing his belief that Ireland are a long way off the required level just two weeks before the tournament begins. Speaking to the BBC, O'Connell, despite captaining the Irish to successive Six Nations Championships, feels that their prospects have not improved after the recent round of warm up game - Ireland both beat and lost to Wales, and won against Scotland in Dublin. O'Connell, described the despondency after their defeat to Wales, and how the team review left them little room for even crumbs of comfort. Despite the presence of Lions outhalf Johnny Sexton, things are unlikely to improve for his squad this weekend as they face a very potent looking England in the last of the pre-tournament games. Its difficult to see passion and 'Garryowen' style football getting them very far, and even getting out of their group is no foregone conclusion.
Oh for the days of Waltzing O'Driscoll"

BBDBB

different interpretation or a different answer?

.ak

Believing you'll win a tournament makes you forget the next game.

Concentrating on winning your next game wins you tournaments.

rrpc

BBDBB wrote: »

different interpretation or a different answer?

Different interpretation I would say. Saying it's a long way away is just another way of saying there are a lot of matches to win before you get to the point that could put you in with a chance of winning it.

The comment about the Wales game was a different slant, saying basically that there is also a lot of work to be done.

Neither quote said that we had no chance.

So a very off kilter interpretation of what he said imo.

kuang1

rrpc wrote: »

So a very off kilter interpretation of what he said imo.

Absolutely.

A very typical example of how the truth should never get in the way of a good story.

Laughable.

Wang King

BBDBB wrote: »

different interpretation or a different answer?

Not a quote from POC, just a BBC journo doing some makey uppy rubbish

Rightwing

Trabejo wrote: »

Sorry I should have put it in context. He was laughing at the suggestion of Ireland winning the world cup. Not whether he wanted to win it or not

Unfortunately he is right. Q-F is as far as we'll go unless Joe radically alters his conservative philosphy.

Flipper22

Rightwing wrote: »

Unfortunately he is right. Q-F is as far as we'll go unless Joe radically alters his conservative philosphy.

Really?! Oh god, someone better tell him to radically alter his conservative philosophy so. Will you do it, rightwing?

irishbucsfan

Flipper22 wrote: »

Really?! Oh god, someone better tell him to radically alter his conservative philosophy so. Will you do it, rightwing?

Someone better tell all the previous world cup winning coaches that they had it wrong as well!

Alf Veedersane

He didn't laugh off the notion of Ireland winning in any way, shape or form.

He just said there's a lot of work to be done, especially in light of the Wales match.

So, much ado about nothing.

kuang1

Rightwing wrote: »

Unfortunately he is right. Q-F is as far as we'll go unless Joe radically alters his conservative philosphy.

And hand back the last two 6N titles too while he's at it...clearly they were awarded to us in error.

Rightwing

Flipper22 wrote: »

Really?! Oh god, someone better tell him to radically alter his conservative philosophy so. Will you do it, rightwing?

No.

kuang1 wrote: »

And hand back the last two 6N titles too while he's at it...clearly they were awarded to us in error.

No.

Caovyn Lineah

I wonder if a Leinster player said this would the op have posted a similar thread

If there is one thing we've learned from 2007 its walk before you can run. We went into that World Cup into a very tough pool with airy-fairy thoughts of winning it out without having even won a 6 nations. We under-performed hugely but even at that there was little basis for the over-confidence in the group.

Our World Cup final for me is France (provided we do the business against Italy), win that and things start to open up a bit.

Rightwing

Borders no.2 wrote: »

If there is one thing we've learned from 2007 its walk before you can run. We went into that World Cup into a very tough pool with airy-fairy thoughts of winning it out without having even won a 6 nations. We under-performed hugely but even at that there was little basis for the over-confidence in the group.

Our World Cup final for me is France (provided we do the business against Italy), win that and things start to open up a bit.

Agreed, that is effectively our world cup. We're in a very easy group right up until the last match. However, France know that they are also in a very easy group.

KeithWoodshead

Rightwing wrote: »

Agreed, that is effectively our world cup. We're in a very easy group right up until the last match. However, France know that they are also in a very easy group.

Your posts literally make no sense

Rightwing

KeithWoodshead wrote: »

Your posts literally make no sense

Incorrect use of the word literally. The posts either make sense or they don't. Once the reader understands English, the posts will make sense.

Hope this helps.

KeithWoodshead

Rightwing wrote: »

Incorrect use of the word literally. The posts either make sense or they don't. Once the reader understands English, the posts will make sense.

Hope this helps.

Interested as to why you think Schmidts supposed conservative approach is suddenly going to fall off the rails and end in a RWC quarter final exit?

I mean, it's won us two six nations in a row and will likely be even more suited to knockout rugby

Could you back up your opinion a little

Rightwing

KeithWoodshead wrote: »

Interested as to why you think Schmidts supposed conservative approach is suddenly going to fall off the rails and end in a RWC quarter final exit?

I mean, it's won us two six nations in a row and will likely be even more suited to knockout rugby

Could you back up your opinion a little

Our group won't be decided on points differential. Conservatism can win you a tournament on points differential when you play 5 games. But to top this group we will have to win all our games, I've seen nothing from Schmidt's style to suggest we are capable of winning our group.

KeithWoodshead

Rightwing wrote: »

Our group won't be decided on points differential. Conservatism can win you a tournament on points differential when you play 5 games. But to top this group we will have to win all our games, I've seen nothing from Schmidt's style to suggest we are capable of winning our group.

Winning our group will come down to beating France, a team we've beaten home and away under Schmidt in massive six nations games...


Makes the bolded part of the post all the more confusing, one would think that's a big suggestion for you there. I'd suspect you're just saying controversial things for the sake of it, because your opinion doesn't seem to hold any basing in reality

Rightwing

KeithWoodshead wrote: »

Winning our group will come down to beating France, a team we've beaten home and away under Schmidt in massive six nations games...


Makes the bolded part of the post all the more confusing, one would think that's a big suggestion for you there. I'd suspect you're just saying controversial things for the sake of it, because your opinion doesn't seem to hold any basing in reality

You are easily confused and your points are shallow, indeed far too shallow to be engaging in conversation with.

sydthebeat

Rightwing wrote: »

Our group won't be decided on points differential. Conservatism can win you a tournament on points differential when you play 5 games. But to top this group we will have to win all our games, I've seen nothing from Schmidt's style to suggest we are capable of winning our group.

Which team in our group will give us the hardest game in your opinion, and how long has it been since we were beaten by that said team?

irishbucsfan

Rightwing wrote: »

You are easily confused and your points are shallow, indeed far too shallow to be engaging in conversation with.

What, you mean the point that Joe Schmidt has beaten France home and away, is not a good argument in favour of him beating them again?

Something I like to think about is the face Schmidt coached at the very highest level in the country and knows their rugby culture inside out. I think it's going to be a very tough game but I'd give us the edge.

sydthebeat

Rightwing wrote: »

You are easily confused and your points are shallow, indeed far too shallow to be engaging in conversation with.

Oh God the ironing !!!!!

Rightwing

France are going to be a lot tougher than people here think. World cup and 6N are entirely different. Irish rugby should know that more than most. It will be the defining game of Schmidt's era. No question about that.

KeithWoodshead

Rightwing wrote: »

France are going to be a lot tougher than people here think. World cup and 6N are entirely different. Irish rugby should know that more than most. It will be the defining game of Schmidt's era. No question about that.

No one is saying France won't be tough. People are pointing out how silly it is to say that there's nothing to suggest we'll win our group

Rightwing

I'll adopt a wait and see approach, and in the meantime I'll back France to top the group.

Come the 6N, maybe a different story.

kuang1

Rightwing wrote: »

France are going to be a lot tougher than people here think. World cup and 6N are entirely different. Irish rugby should know that more than most. It will be the defining game of Schmidt's era. No question about that.

So they're going to be a lot tougher than...tough?

Because that's the general consensus on this forum; that France will be a worthy opponent.
All recent evidence points towards us having a good chance of maintaining our upper hand on them. However, I haven't seen anyone here suggest that this is by any means a certainty. There in fact seems to be general agreement that we're gonna have to be in finely-tuned condition to keep them at bay.

All of that said, you must be rather pleased with the return your trolling has received!:cool:

Wang King

kuang1 wrote: »

So they're going to be a lot tougher than...tough?

Because that's the general consensus on this forum; that France will be a worthy opponent.
All recent evidence points towards us having a good chance of maintaining our upper hand on them. However, I haven't seen anyone here suggest that this is by any means a certainty. There in fact seems to be general agreement that we're gonna have to be in finely-tuned condition to keep them at bay.

All of that said, you must be rather pleased with the return your trolling has received!:cool:

You should switch on sky sports 1 there for a laugh

EndaHonesty

Trabejo wrote: »

Sorry I should have put it in context. He was laughing at the suggestion of Ireland winning the world cup. Not whether he wanted to win it or not

Of course he laughed at the suggestion!

Ireland have their best ever chance of winning it, but if the group start thinking about that it will be disastrous.

The underdog, take every game as it comes has always been the best situation for Irish teams.

.ak

Rightwing wrote: »

Incorrect use of the word literally. The posts either make sense or they don't. Once the reader understands English, the posts will make sense.

Hope this helps.

Don't be a dick. Warning issued.

.ak

kuang1 wrote: »

So they're going to be a lot tougher than...tough?

Because that's the general consensus on this forum; that France will be a worthy opponent.
All recent evidence points towards us having a good chance of maintaining our upper hand on them. However, I haven't seen anyone here suggest that this is by any means a certainty. There in fact seems to be general agreement that we're gonna have to be in finely-tuned condition to keep them at bay.

All of that said, you must be rather pleased with the return your trolling has received!:cool:

Do not accuse other posters of trolling. If you have an issue please report the post.

Coriander3000

cronin_j wrote: »

Rugby players are well versed in the way to handle the media. The amount of self belief these guys have is unreal. Do you think he would come out and say "Yeah we will win" so that Steve Hansen and Warren Gatland can print it off and stick it all over the walls of the dressing rooms?

Paul is being coy for a reason

He could have said the " we can win it, obviously it will be difficult but we'll do our best to go as far as we can.

Coriander3000

EndaHonesty wrote: »

Of course he laughed at the suggestion!

Ireland have their best ever chance of winning it, but if the group start thinking about that it will be disastrous.

The underdog, take every game as it comes has always been the best situation for Irish teams.

As the team ranked second in the world it's a bit ridiculous to consider Ireland an underdog in this world cup. Part of Irelands problem is not being able to deal with being one of the favourites which they most definitely are now.

Rightwing

Coriander3000 wrote: »

As the team ranked second in the world it's a bit ridiculous to consider Ireland an underdog in this world cup. Part of Irelands problem is not being able to deal with being one of the favourites which they most definitely are now.

Ireland are joint 4th favs.

I'll revisit this thread in October and see who knew what.

KeithWoodshead

Rightwing wrote: »

Ireland are joint 4th favs.

I'll revisit this thread in October and see who knew what.

You're still going to be wrong about Ireland not showing any sign they could top the group in October

Rightwing

KeithWoodshead wrote: »

You're still going to be wrong about Ireland not showing any sign they could top the group in October

Struggling to beat Scotland, losing at home to Wales, losing to Eng starts to raise a few concerns amongst the astute and knowledgeable. But only the astute and knowledgeable.

Others waffle about beating a disinterested French, thinking that match means it's in the bag

Time will tell.

KeithWoodshead

Rightwing wrote: »

Our group won't be decided on points differential. Conservatism can win you a tournament on points differential when you play 5 games. But to top this group we will have to win all our games, I've seen nothing from Schmidt's style to suggest we are capable of winning our group.

none of that has anything got to dow with what you initially said:

Rightwing wrote: »

I've seen nothing from Schmidt's style to suggest we are capable of winning our group.

Not sure why I'm wasting my time going back over this, but we've shown plenty to suggest we're capable of winning our group, including beating our main rivals in it twice.

.ak

.ak wrote: »

Don't be a dick. Warning issued.

Rightwing wrote: »

Struggling to beat Scotland, losing at home to Wales, losing to Eng starts to raise a few concerns amongst the astute and knowledgeable. But only the astute and knowledgeable.

Others waffle about beating a disinterested French, thinking that match means it's in the bag

Time will tell.

Fine. Come back in October and tell us if you were right.

Banned until then.