A sporting icon. A Leader. A Warrior. There are about a thousand words on the list to describe Paul O’Connell. Ballywire was lucky enough to spend a day in the Limerick man’s company for a trip to the North Tipperary town of Nenagh when even more qualities emerged. The man who injected ‘manic aggression’ into Irish rugby and put his body on the line to play through the pain barrier showed his softer side as he mixed with sports fans of all ages.

If you’re on the look out for a brand ambassador the bar set by Paul O’Connell would be a good place to start marking out a criteria. A hero on the pitch, someone who is warm and approachable off it. Sad to see any career cut short by injury and especially so in Paulie’s case. When you’re forming a shortlist of people to partner your brand with, have a look at this Ballywire video created for adidas and ask yourself does this person that we are thinking about signing up have similar qualities? If not, maybe best to go back to the drawing board. From all at Ballywire, enjoy the retirement Paul.