Munster duo aiming to be top of the locks

The duo became Ireland's most used pair of second rows in the RBS 6 Nations during the 20-16 win over the 2003 World Champions.

Saturday's Croke Park encounter with Wales will see O'Connell and O'Callaghan move two games clear of the previous record of 12 held by O'Connell and Leinster's Malcolm O'Kelly.

O'Connell and O'Callaghan have been international team-mates for the past seven years, with Paul making his Ireland debut in 2002 and Donncha following suit a year later.

The pair now have close to 130 Ireland caps between them thanks to Paul's tally of 68 and Donncha's current total of 59.

They are also both nearing a century of appearances for Munster, with a large proportion of those coming as second-row partners.

But the friends still have a way to go to match the tournament record of 19 held jointly by Scotland's Scott Murray and Stuart Grimes and Italy's Santiago Dellape and Marco Bortolami.


RBS 6 Nations Leading Lock Partnerships

19 Scott Murray / Stuart Grimes (Scotland)
19 Santiago Dellape / Marco Bortolami (Italy)
13 Paul O'Connell / Donncha O'Callaghan (Ireland)
12 Paul O'Connell / Malcolm O'Kelly (Ireland)
12 Ben Kay / Danny Grewcock (England)
11 Steve Borthwick / Simon Shaw (England)
11 Ian Gough / Alun Wyn Jones (Wales)
10 Mick Galwey / Malcolm O'Kelly (Ireland)
10 Fabien Pelous / Jerome Thion (France)