Paul O'Connell has been linked with a move to French side Pau in Midi Olympique today. Pau are currently top of the Pro D2 and count former Munster no.8 James Coughlan amongst their numbers.
...I'll let the headline on the front of today's @midi_olympique do the talking. Paul O'Connell heading to France? pic.twitter.com/PjT5BLC2DH
— gavin mortimer (@gavinmortimer7) November 17, 2014
The paper say that another former Munster employee, Simon Mannix, is the one trying to bring O'Connell to France. Mannix is currently head coach of the side.
According to M.O it's Simon Mannix, down at Pau, who hopes to bring O'Connell to the club after next year's RWC
— gavin mortimer (@gavinmortimer7) November 17, 2014
Bringing O'Connell to Pau after the World Cup does have a road block though. He signed a two-year deal with the IRFU at the start of this year which will keep him at Thomond Park until June 2016. French clubs have been used by Irish players in the past to their improve negotiating positions with the IRFU, so it is possible that this is an early ploy by O'Connell's management team to get a slightly better deal for what could be his last in rugby.
That said, in the past. O'Connell has stated that not moving abroad is a small regret of his.
Picture credit: Matt Browne / SPORTSFILE
