Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Paul O'Connell has suggested next month's closed doors Irish rugby restart could hand Munster crucial advantage

(Photo By Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Former Ireland and Lions skipper Paul Oā€™Connell believes the lack of spectators at next monthā€™s Irish rugby restart will give Munster an excellent chance of securing a rare Dublin win and end Leinsterā€™s 19-match winning streak in 2019/20.

ADVERTISEMENT

Leo Cullenā€™s defending Guinness PRO14 champions had won all 13 of its league matches prior to the outbreak of the season-suspending coronavirus pandemic, as well as all six of its Heineken Champions pool matches. 

The stalled campaign is now set to resume on Saturday, August 22, with Munster set to provide the opposition to Leinster in a city that has not been a happy hunting ground in recent times.

Video Spacer

Win Ā£5,000 for your local rugby club courtesy of Budgy Smuggler

Video Player is loading.
Current Time 0:00
Duration 0:00
Loaded: 0%
Stream Type LIVE
Remaining Time 0:00
 
1x
    • Chapters
    • descriptions off, selected
    • captions off, selected
      Video Spacer

      Win Ā£5,000 for your local rugby club courtesy of Budgy Smuggler

      Munster have won just one of ten league derbies versus Leinster since the Aviva Stadium opened in 2010, while also losing successive PRO14 semi-finals in the last two seasons at the nearby RDS. 

      All those matches were played in front of huge crowds, with the Aviva catering for in excess of 45,000 people and the RDS accommodating nearly 20,000 on each occasion.

      However, current Irish health guidelines will see rugby restart in August with matches played behind closed doors, a situation that will deprive Leinster of their traditionally massive following for their annual home derby against their arch-rivals. 

      ADVERTISEMENT

      This is something that Oā€™Connell suggested can now play to the advantage of Munster, who will be looking for a victory to try and help them top Conference B of the PRO14 ahead of Edinburgh and see them avoid having to go to Leinster again in the semi-finals, the stage of the competition that has tripped them up in recent seasons.

      ā€œI wouldnā€™t struggle to play in an empty stadium,ā€ said Oā€™Connell during a guest appearance on Ireland AM, the Virgin Media breakfast TV show. ā€œIf youā€™re playing Leinster in the Aviva Stadium, which is probably going to happen pretty soon for Munster guys, the way things have gone the last few years with Leinster dominating Munster it wouldnā€™t be a struggle. 

      ā€œProbably the break has been great for a lot of the guys. A lot of them have been on the road a long time, playing in big matches which are physically tough but also mentally tough as well trying to get up for it every single week. 

      ā€œThe break will have been brilliant for a lot of the seasoned professional players we have throughout the country. Itā€™s not ideal when they go back in front of small crowds or no crowds at all but itā€™s just something that has to be got on with, it has to be done for the game.ā€

      ADVERTISEMENT

      ADVERTISEMENT

      Boks Office | Episode 37 | Six Nations Round 4 Review

      Cape Town | Leg 2 | Day 2 | HSBC Challenger Series 2025 | Full Day Replay

      Gloucester-Hartpury vs Bristol Bears | PWR 2024/25 | Full Match Replay

      Boks Office | Episode 36 | Six Nations Round 3 Review

      Why did Scotland's Finn Russell take the crucial kick from the wrong place? | Whistle Watch

      England A vs Ireland A | Full Match Replay

      Kubota Spears vs Shizuoka BlueRevs | JRLO 2024/2025 | Full Match Replay

      Watch now: Lomu - The Lost Tapes

      Trending on RugbyPass

      Comments

      0 Comments
      Be the first to comment...

      Join free and tell us what you really think!

      Sign up for free
      ADVERTISEMENT

      Latest Features

      Comments on RugbyPass

      J
      Jahmirwayle 1 hour ago
      Crusaders rookie earns 'other than Dupont' praise from All Blacks star

      It started with a gut-wrenching realization. Iā€™d been duped. Months earlier, Iā€™d poured $133,000 into what I thought was a golden opportunity a cryptocurrency investment platform promising astronomical returns. The website was sleek, the testimonials glowed, and the numbers in my account dashboard climbed steadily. Iā€™d watched my Bitcoin grow, or so I thought, until the day I tried to withdraw it. Thatā€™s when the excuses began: ā€œProcessing delays,ā€ ā€œAdditional verification required,ā€ and finally, a demand for a hefty ā€œrelease fee.ā€ Then, silence. The platform vanished overnight, taking my money with it. I was left staring at a blank screen, my savings gone, and a bitter taste of shame in my mouth.I didnā€™t know where to turn. The police shrugged cybercrime was a black hole they couldnā€™t navigate. Friends offered sympathy but no solutions. I spent sleepless nights scouring forums, reading about others whoā€™d lost everything to similar scams. Thatā€™s when I stumbled across a thread mentioning a group specializing in crypto recovery. They didnā€™t promise miracles, but they had a reputation for results. Desperate, I reached out.The first contact was a breath of fresh air. I sent an email explaining my situation dates, transactions, screenshots, everything I could scrape together. Within hours, I got a reply. No fluff, no false hope, just a clear request for more details and a promise to assess my case. I hesitated, wary of another scam, but something about their professionalism nudged me forward. I handed over my evidence: the wallet addresses Iā€™d sent my Bitcoin to, the emails from the fake platform, even the login credentials Iā€™d used before the site disappeared.The process kicked off fast. They explained that scammers often move funds through a web of wallets to obscure their tracks, but Bitcoinā€™s blockchain leaves a trail if you know how to follow it. Thatā€™s where their expertise came in. They had tools and know-how I couldnā€™t dream of, tracing the flow of my coins across the network. I didnā€™t understand the technical jargon hash rates, mixing services, cold wallets but I didnā€™t need to. They kept me in the loop with updates: ā€œWeā€™ve identified the initial transfer,ā€ ā€œThe funds split here,ā€ ā€œWeā€™re narrowing down the endpoints.ā€ Hours passed , and I oscillated between hope and dread. Then came the breakthrough. Theyā€™d pinpointed where my Bitcoin had landed a cluster of wallets tied to the scammers. Some of it had been cashed out, but a chunk remained intact, sitting in a digital vault the crooks thought was untouchable. I didnā€™t ask too many questions about that part; I just wanted results. They pressured the right points, leveraging the blockchain evidence to freeze the wallets holding my funds before the scammers could liquidate them. Next morning, I woke up to an email that made my heart skip. ā€œWeā€™ve secured access to a portion of your assets.ā€ Not all of it some had slipped through the cracks but $133,000 worth of Bitcoin, my original investment, was recoverable. They walked me through the final steps: setting up a secure wallet, verifying the transfer, watching the coins land. When I saw the balance tick up on my screen, I sat there, stunned. It was real. My money was back.The ordeal wasnā€™t painless. Iā€™d lost time, sleep, and a bit of faith in humanity. But the team at Alpha Spy Nest Recovery turned a nightmare into a second chance.  Iā€™ll never forget what they did. In a world full of thieves, they were the ones who fought to make things right. Contacts below: email: Alphaspynest@mail.com, WhatsApp: +14159714490ā€¬, Telegram: https://t.me/Alphaspynest

      8 Go to comments
      LONG READ
      LONG READ Was Dublin drubbing the end of an era or a bump in the road for Ireland? Was Dublin drubbing the end of an era or a bump in the road for Ireland?
      Search