Henry believes Ireland will be inspired by departed captain O’Connell

Sport360 staff 11:15 14/10/2015
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  • Paul O’Connell moved his team-mates to tears with his pre-match battle-cry against France, but Chris Henry believes the absent skipper can still inspire Ireland’s emotional fire against Argentina.

    Ulster flanker Henry revealed he shed a tear at O’Connell’s tub-thumping rhetoric ahead of Sunday’s superlative 24-9 victory over France at the Millennium Stadium.

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    And now the battling loose-forward believes few words will be required for Ireland to psych themselves up for Sunday’s World Cup quarter-final against the Pumas.

    O’Connell’s World Cup and Test career are at an end after Ireland confirmed the 35-year-old requires surgery to repair his torn hamstring, but Henry backed Ireland to cope without their talisman and also knee injury victim Peter O’Mahony.

    Ireland have called up Leinster’s Mike McCarthy to replace their inspirational skipper, with Jamie Heaslip assuming the captaincy “The team talk does write itself ultimately this week,” said Henry, who along with freshly called-up Leinster flanker Rhys Ruddock, is  waiting in the wings to start against the Pumas. “There’s a lot at stake and Jamie (Heaslip) speaks really well, but I don’t think it’s going to need too much speaking.

    “Everyone’s very, very focused, you can see it in the way people are floating around the place at the moment. Having that extra 24 hours was a big pushing factor, and I think we’re going to need that rest.

    “Paul and Pete set the tone for what followed on the pitch last week, and hopefully that’s some small solace for them.

    “They were playing unbelievably and that’s the heartbreaking thing. And if we can use that as any extra motivation, if it can give us just one per cent more in terms of performance, then we’ll try.

    “And we want to do it for those players, they’ve given so much not just in the last five weeks, but in the last decade. So it would be incredible to do something special for Paul and Pete.”

    Hopes were high that linchpin fly-half Johnny Sexton may yet recover from his groin problem to face the Pumas in Cardiff.

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