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Monye: Paul O'Connell's inspirational Lions talk made me cry

Ugo Monye says former Lions captain Paul O'Connell reduced him to tears with one of his pre-game talks.

Ex England winger Ugo Monye says former British and Irish Lions captain Paul O'Connell reduced him to tears with one of his pre-game talks while on tour in South Africa in 2009.

The 35-year-old will skipper Ireland at the Rugby World Cup and Monye says he's an inspirational leader.

"He walks into a room, you listen to him, you stand up and you want to play for him," he said.

"I remember going into the third Test for the Lions (in 2009) and the tour was over for us unfortunately. He spoke the night before the game and the guy just broke down crying and I didn't know what to do.

"I looked around the room to see how to react and and I thought 'I wasn't expecting that.'"

"If you've got a player in your team that can evoke emotion out of you in the right manner that only means you're going to rise to that occasion," he added.

O'Connell is playing in his fourth World Cup and will lead Ireland in their opening match against Canada.

This clip is from 5 live Sport, Thursday 17 September 2015.

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