Toulon's Drew Mitchell touts Paul O'Connell as potential 'invaluable addition'

Ireland captain Paul O'Connell would be "an invaluable addition" to Toulon, according to their wing Drew Mitchell.

Munster lock O'Connell has been linked with a summer move to the French Top-14 club, who were forced to deny publically they had made any contact with the player last week.

O'Connell's contract in Ireland expires in 2016 and he has not yet decided whether he could retire following this autumn's World Cup, with Toulon locks Bakkies Botha and Ali Williams set to hang up their boots this summer

But Mitchell said: "At this point in time it's speculation but we've got two guys retiring after fantastic careers so having someone again with such experience would be an invaluable addition to our squad.

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"If it does happen and he turns up in our squad come pre-season then I'm sure the squad would benefit from his presence in the group; with his knowledge and the presence he would have on some of our younger players."

Toulon are gunning to make history by landing a third consecutive European crown in Saturday's Champions Cup final against Clermont at Twickenham.

And Australia international Mitchell says confidence is with them after a momentous semi-final victory over Leinster.

"First and foremost that semi-final highlights just how close this competition is. It doesn't get much tighter than that match against Leinster," Mitchell said.

"It highlights how much set-piece, territory, taking points when they are on offer, how much all these things count at the back-end of the season.

"We can take confidence from the fact we were able to keep as calm as possible, and focus on what needed to be done in those crucial minutes.

"One thing we're pretty lucky to have is big-game experience right across the board, people who have got the job done in different competitions across the world throughout their careers.

"So come the 80th, 90th or even 100th minute, we've got guys staying calm and worrying about the detail, and how to execute our roles as opposed to getting a bit frantic and lost in the occasion."