Munster rugby has confirmed that their former captain Paul O’Connell will return to the province in an advisory role - with immediate effect.

The Greencore Munster Rugby Academy has been boosted by the addition of the Munster and Ireland stalwart who joins the province in a part-time capacity for one year.

The role will see the former lock act as a mentor to the next generation of Munster players, providing “technical expertise and advice”, while guiding them in the areas of “rugby development, preparation and best practice”.

Munster Rugby CEO Garrett Fitzgerald said, “Every club in the world would love to have an iconic figure such as Paul O’Connell involved in their set-up. As a Limerick native and proud Munster and Irishman who has played and led teams for Munster, Ireland and the Lions, we were very eager to secure his services in some capacity.

Second Captains

“We certainly couldn’t let this resource and opportunity go and we are hugely thankful to the Commercial Board for their support in making this a reality.

“An appointment such as this is a further boost to our academy staff and young players, and to the organisation as a whole. As always we continue to strive for best in class and this latest appointment further highlights our ambitions as we embark on a new chapter for the province, operating from our new high performance centre in UL.”

O’Connell, who was widely known as an inspirational leader on and off the field over a distinguished 14-year career, represented the province on 178 occasions and won two European Cups (2006, 2008), three League titles (2003, 2009, 2011) and a Celtic Cup (2005).

With Ireland, Paul won a Grand Slam (2009), led his country to two RBS 6 Nations championship titles (2014, 2015) and claimed four Triple Crowns (2004, 2006, 2007, 2009).

A three time Lions Tourist (2005, 2009, 2013), in 2009 Paul led the British and Irish Lions Tour of South Africa and was a member of the Series winning side in Australia in 2013.

He announced his retirement from the game five months ago, failing to recover from the hamstring injury he sustained during the 2015 Rugby World Cup with Ireland. Hence preventing him from a final two playing seasons with Top 14 side Toulon.