Paul O'Connell has called on the Irish crowd to do more to get behind the team at the Aviva Stadium. The lock admitted he finds it "frustrating" when the Irish team run out and the crowd are not in their seats.
In comments which echo those of Alan Quinlan after Ireland's loss to England last year, O'Connell hinted at his frustration at the laxness the Irish crowd have shown in getting back to their seats for the start of the second half.
"It is a bit of a frustrating thing to come out at times, particularly at half-time and for the crowd not to be in their seats.
O'Connell also hinted at the overly comfortable nature of the stadium as being behind the lax atmosphere at games. The Aviva Stadium has been frequently attacked for lacking the atmosphere of the old Lansdowne Road. The insistence on blaring out ear-bashing pop songs every time anyone kicks a penalty hardly helps either. At a recent Leinster match, the song 'Chase The Sun' was blasted out after each penalty, like it was a Darts match.
“In the Aviva, I suppose it’s such a fantastic stadium, it’s so luxurious and so comfortable, people take time getting to their seats.
Ireland have a strikingly mediocre home record since moving back to the old venue in 2010, winning just seven out of eighteen games. England and Argentina are the only substantial sides they have beaten there, in 2011 and 2012 respectively (and Scotland in 2012, if one was to be generous).
He acknowledged that the players have to give their supporters something to cheer about but said the crowd needed to recognise their role too
“Certainly we have to give the crowd something to cheer about, there’s no doubt about that but I do think, at this stage, we need the crowd to realise they have big role to play for the team as well in terms of supporting us.”
O'Connell has urged the Aviva crowd to generate the same atmosphere he sees at provincial games.
“With the provinces it’s not an issue. I think with the provinces the crowd understand the role they can play for the team by being there early, by being vocal, by showing how much they are up for it.
O'Connell's comments have a very similar ring to the comments made by Alan Quinlan in the Irish Times during last year's Six Nations.
The worst thing I saw on Sunday, though, came at the start of the second half. I was working for RTÉ Radio and we were on air all the way through half-time. So once we handed back to the commentary team, I took the chance to head off to the toilet.
When I came out to go back to my seat the game was back on and running but I was blown away by what I saw. There were hundreds of people just milling around, standing there having a drink and watching the game on the screens. They weren’t queuing for a pint or for food, they were just standing there looking up at the TV.
