Brian O’Driscoll Ready For Six Nations Challenge – Six Nations 2010
BRIAN OâDRISCOLL is Six Nations royalty, it really is that simple.
No other player has bestrode the tournament like the Dubliner, and no-one has tasted the highs and lows of rugbyâs greatest annual tournament.
The Ireland captain, who lifted his countryâs first Grand Slam in 61 years last season, has been the tournamentâs greatest performer since the Six Nations started in 2000.
OâDriscoll isnât just one of the top players of his generation, he would have been a true great in any era. How he wasnât voted the IRBâs world player of the year for 2009, after his wonderful exploits with Ireland, Leinster and the Lions, is still a mystery.
OâDriscoll, a folk idol in Ireland, has reinvented himself from the effervescent and side-stepping young buck of his early 20s into one of the gameâs true Test warriors.
And even the most rabid Welsh rugby fan, after the emotion had subsided of last-gasp defeat at the Millennium Stadium last March, would have begrudged OâDriscoll the joy of finally nailing a Grand Slam.
After a decade of coming up short and any manner of personal and professional disappointments, OâDriscoll finally had a year he deserved.
On top of a first Grand Slam for more than half a century, he lifted the Heineken Cup with Leinster and proved he is still a world-class centre with the Lions in South Africa.
But those who think OâDriscollâs desire and ambition has been sated by last seasonâs success are in for a surprise. He may be in the twilight of a truly brilliant career, but his warrior spirit is still going strong.
âYou get selfish after attaining a goal and you get a taste for it,â said OâDriscoll. âIt doesnât mean your ambition isnât still there and if anything, it probably heightens it.
âI enjoyed the trappings that came with it, the winning itself, the celebrations in the country.
âIt was great and if you could do it again, why not? Itâs better than not doing it again.â
But donât for one minute think OâDriscoll is being arrogant or any sort of complacency has set in. He is under no doubt about the task facing Ireland, who kick off at home to Italy and follow that with away games against France and England.
The Irish wrap up with Croke Park clashes with Wales and Scotland.
âWe are owed nothing in this Six Nations after being unbeaten last year. We have to earn it again and we start from scratch,â said OâDriscoll.
âWe are not affected by public perception, itâs what our own view in the camp is and what we want to achieve ourselves which is important.
âWe donât go shouting to the world about what we want to do … but we do want to get better as a team and play a better brand of rugby.â
âAs Irish people, we donât do the middle ground. We either do the very top or the very bottom,â said OâDriscoll.
What impresses about OâDriscoll is how he has reinvented himself as a player. That yard of explosive pace may have gone but these days the first few yards are in his head.
He is always one step ahead of his opponent and is renowned as one of the great tacticians.
But OâDriscoll knows that while he is at the peak of his powers, the end of his career is closer than the beginning.
âI really enjoyed the last year or so,â said OâDriscoll.
âThere are plenty of things I havenât achieved. The World Cup is there in the background, but 18 months is a huge time in international rugby.â
The focus, for the time being, is a repeat of last seasonâs exploits, although the fixture schedule is arguably more daunting this time around.
âAnd England can be a very difficult team to beat at Twickenham when they build some momentum. That will be extremely tough, too.
âBut what makes it such a great competition is that in the eight times I have led my country since 2003, I have always talked about four or five teams capable of winning the Six Nations.
âLook at Scotland, they are the most improved side when you look at the way they beat Australia in November.
âWales won the Grand Slam the year before us and Italy can take a scalp even if they arenât capable of winning five games on the bounce.
Ireland have set themselves a mission impossible during this tournament â back-to-back Grand Slams. They are capable of it, but the last side to achieve that were France in 1997 and 1998, so how does OâDriscoll go about achieving the feat?
âYou donât retain anything, you give it back and try and win it again. That is the way we will look at it,â said OâDriscoll.
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