RUGBY:PAUL O'CONNELL delivered the eulogy in a slightly truncated form of a list of qualities, but there was no doubting the sincerity in his voice when asked to describe Munster and Ireland's wunderkind Keith Earls.
The Lions captain was a teenager when he first played with Keith’s father, Ger, at Young Munster, the flanker making a huge impression on O’Connell.
In the Lions media guide there are sound bites from players beneath various headings. Under “first rugby hero”, O’Connell put down: “Ger Earls”. His relationship with the family will continue tomorrow when he leads Keith on to the pitch in the red jersey of the Lions.
O’Connell has no doubt that the young protege is ready. “He’s a very laid-back kind of guy, a quiet, unassuming guy; eager to learn. I think that’s something everyone has seen in the last two weeks in terms of how receptive he is to ideas. He has something special; great pace, very elusive, great step, great fend, good skills. He’s all you’d want and then he has a good head to go with it.”
In a lighter aside he pointed out that as the youngest member of the squad currently in South Africa, Earls has a duty of care for the as yet un-named mascot.
“Keith Earls has been carrying the lion around because he is the youngest on tour. There are all sorts of fines if he loses it so he is dying for Leigh Halfpenny – he’s 15 months younger than the Irishman – to get his rehab right and get out here as soon as possible.”
At the South African press conference in Pretoria on Wednesday, coach Peter de Villiers spoke about how strong the current Lions team were but could never match the class of 1974, whom he described as legends.
When this was conveyed to the current Lion king, he refused to bite. “I hadn’t heard that or read any of that stuff.
“I think that ’74 is what made those players legends. That’s what we’re here to do. If we can win a Test series against the South Africans it will be massive for our careers. The Lions in South Africa is the pinnacle of any player’s career in the four home nations.
“For us to come here and win; that’s what legends are made of and that’s what our goal is.”
There is always a difficulty in the balance that players need to strike between a desire to shine as an individual while subjugating to the team interests. But O’Connell doesn’t anticipate any conflict. “You definitely want individualism to come out. You have guys that can score tries from a long, long way out and we need that to happen throughout the tour. We need it to happen in the Tests if we are going to be successful.
“That individual flair, that individual skill which so many of these guys have has to come out for us. The way the last two weeks have gone, I think there is no fear of guys playing as individuals. We’ve built very well. I think once you get into the matches it’ll build even more.
“We need guys to produce that bit of individual skill, we need them to want to do it, to impress but at the same time I don’t think there is any fear that guys will go off and play their own game.”
In an ideal world O’Connell would love to see the Lions play with a swagger and brio but ultimately not at the expense of winning. He maintains it’s for others to judge the quality of rugby but that victory won’t be sacrificed against a desire to curry favour with the supporters.
“I don’t think that we have to win people over. We are only together two weeks and by the time the Tests come around it’ll be the bones of four and a half weeks, so it is all about ourselves and making sure we develop as a team as quick as we can.
“All the things that we have been working on with our defence coach, in our attack; it’s going to be about making steps in the right direction. We have been doing really well in training, learning a lot. Sure we want to perform, play well and score tries (but more importantly) it’s about becoming a team.”
Rustenburg will be the first proving ground.
