O'Connell laid-back about his job at the coalface

Irish lock Paul O'Connell in action for the Lions last year. Picture / Kenny Rodger

Irish lock Paul O'Connell does not do circumlocution well. Straight to the point, no messing about, just like his rugby.

So he was able to cover off the Lions tour last season and the Irish chances tonight against the All Blacks in a few decent sentences.

"A lot was made the last time around of dealings with the media between Alastair Campbell and Clive [Woodward] and stuff like that and I think at the moment there is not much bluffing going on," he said.

"It is just show up on Saturday evening and do your job and if you do it well enough you will be in with a shout of winning and if you don't, you don't.

"That is where the game is played, I think, not in the media all week."

If Brian O'Driscoll brings the shiny diamond performances to the Irish backline, O'Connell is the man in command of the coalface operations up front, the hard-working, hard-driving, athletic lineout forward.

Both provoke regular talismanic descriptions from the Irish coaching staff. Both, though, do their best to laud the efforts of their team-mates rather than dwell on any perceptions that Ireland relies enormously on a two-man contingent.

"There is plenty of talent in our team, plenty of guys who can win games for you when it comes down to it," O'Driscoll said.

He nominated the talents of No 8 Denis Leamy and wing Andrew Trimble as potential match-winners.

The skipper used the word talisman again when he spoke of O'Connell, a player he described as a "phenomenal athlete" and someone he regarded as a second captain.

Labels did not sit easily with O'Connell. Nor did he feel any extra responsibility as pack leader. The job had simple parameters.

"You are not going to do anything extra or less because you are captain or vice-captain. You do your job."

The 26-year-old, red-haired O'Connell has been at the core of the Irish side since the last World Cup. He has cajoled Munster and Ireland into powerful forward performances and is world-class in the lineout.

He was in the Irish side which muffed a great chance to beat the All Blacks for the first time in 2002 when a late home try and missed penalties from Ronan O'Gara allowed New Zealand a 15-6 victory at Carisbrook.

That defeat was a big regret but there were no parallels with that match. The All Blacks were now a far more organised squad.

O'Connell was also in a disappointing Lions side which was whitewashed in last year's series by the All Blacks.

He accepted that winning and losing was the only chart of success in the professional era and on that score the Lions fell down. He could use that experience to help Ireland in their latest challenge against the All Blacks.

"Defensively and maybe on attack we should be a bit more clued than we were with the Lions," he said.

Was this trip about redress, was he looking for redemption?

"We'll see after the test. In two weeks' time I'll either hate the place again or love it," he cackled.

The Irish advantage was they were more familiar with their patterns, they knew the nuances of the coaching staff and had a better chance of victory than the Lions.

"Last year we were under-prepared. I don't think we knew how under-prepared we were."

The Lions did not cope with the intensity the All Blacks brought to their play but Ireland could now call on the spine of experience they had taken from that trip.

Ireland were fresh, there was no excuse about end-of-season fatigue.

Besides, winning kept you fresh and there had been enough victories for the national side, Munster and Leinster for the squad to have a spring in their step.

The lineout was an area in which the team had confidence and the scrum was also stable.

"It gets criticised but it is like criticising the All Black pack just because they have a great backline. Very often their front five gets criticised even though they are absolutely outstanding," said O'Driscoll. "Maybe we are not hosing teams off the ball [with the scrum] but it is a good platform."