O’Connell had been as long as 5/2 when Paddy Power opened their book on which player would get the nod from Lions coach Ian McGeechan to skipper the tourists in South Africa.
Current Irish skipper Brian O’Discoll was installed as the 4/6 favourite to be given the honour for a second successive tour. However a large volume of bets on O’Connell resulted in the Munster skipper’s odds tumbling in recent weeks and ultimately in Paddy Power’s decision to suspend their betting.
A Paddy power spokesperson said betting patterns had been ‘one way traffic’ in favour of Munster lock O’Connell.
It was ‘the sheer volume of bets’ for O’Connell which caused the firm to close their book on which player will be selected as Lions captain on April 21 - Ian McGeechan will unveil his 35 or 36-man Lions squad at a Heathrow Hotel.
The bookies’ reckon it is only a matter of time before O’Connell’s appointment is announced. Rugby fans will know for sure later this month.
A dozen Munster men
Meanwhile Munster coach Tony McGahan said he hoped that a dozen members of his squad might gain inclusion in Ian McGeechan’s Lions squad to tour South Africa.
“We would be hoping to have 12 Munster players selected on the Lions squad. We are not fussy,” McGahan said this week.
“We would hope that every player who was involved in the Six Nations would have a genuine chance.
“I wouldn’t rule out anyone in the periphery either, the likes of Keith Earls or someone like that, if he continues to display good form in the coming weeks and puts his hand up.
“Ian McGeechan and his staff will probably come up with a few smokies.
“I am sure Munster will be well represented.”
And unsurprisingly McGahan’s idea of the Lions captain for South Africa is Munster skipper Paul O’Connell: “I would not have any hesitation in nominating Paul (O’Connell) for the role of Lions’ captain.
“I think he is a fantastic captain. I think his leadership, not only when he wasn’t captain, but certainly in the past 18 months, has been exemplary. I think he is developing in the role and is a born leader of men.”
One man who will have a special interest in the Lions tour this summer is former Munster back-row Justin Melck.
Twenty-six-year-old Melck, who began his career with Western Province in South African and was also a regular with the Super 14 side the Stormers, will never be forgotten by Munster fans after scoring one of their tries in the 18-0 win over Leinster in the Magners League at the RDS earlier in the season.
The try came during a four-month spell Melck had with Heineken Cup champions Munster.
Keen watchers of the Guinness Premiership on Sky Sports will have spotted Melck making his debut for Saracens when introduced as a second half replacement in their victory over London Wasps at the weekend.
The Munster maul
THE maul, which Munster have used so effectively over the years, is set to become a major feature in rugby union once again after a meeting of the sport’s leading figures recommended the rejection of the Experimental Law Variation (ELV) which allows it to be pulled down.
Munster have developed the rolling maul into a potent attacking weapon over the years, but the law changed which allowed opposition teams to legally pull it down had greatly lessened it’s significance.
The ELVs, currently the subject of a global trial, have caused a split in world rugby. Their supporters say they will speed up the game and make it more entertaining. But the critics - who are mostly based in Europe - argue that the game’s rulebook did not require major surgery.
They also say that some of the ELVs, rather than increasing entertainment, have made the game less of a spectacle. Particular attention has focused around the maul and the sanctions law, which is only being trialed in the southern hemisphere.
Some observers claimed the maul, where a pack of forwards drive ahead in a tight-knit group with the ball, made it all but impossible for the defending side to engage in a fair contest for possession unless they had the option, previously denied to them, of pulling it down. But others said this was dangerous. The experience in European rugby this season appears to suggest that, in the absence of mauling, defending sides are able to leave more forwards out amongst their back-line thereby reducing the space in which teams can attack.
After a two-day International Rugby Board (IRB) conference in London, featuring some 60 of the sport’s leading administrators, coaches, referees and players’ representatives, it has been announced that they’d recommended the law allowing mauls to be pulled down be thrown out.
The conference was designed to assist the IRB to finalise their own list from the 23 original ELVs for permanent incorporation into the sport’s rulebook when their governing council meets on May 13.
It also rejected the ELV allowing teams to select as many players as they want in the lineout.
But ELVs which got the green-light from the conference included the pass-back rule, which prevents teams making ground with a kick directly into touch from the 22 if the ball has first been played back by their own side into that zone.
Colm Kinsella
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