THE HYPE OF Brian O’Driscoll’s Irish farewell is overtaking the Italy game but, don’t worry, the players know there is a championship to be won. We can get as carried away as we like but Joe Schmidt won’t let anyone involved in the Ireland set-up do likewise.
Ireland are 21 to the good when it comes to [for and against] points difference. I think England will beat Wales at Twickenham on Sunday but, as we are first up, it would be great to build that points advantage.
The talk was about breeding a few new guys but once Jonathan Sexton looked set to make it, team selection was a no brainer. The whole squad building idea was not exactly dashed to one side as Richardt Strauss and Tommy Bowe were invited in to train with the greater squad. The debate over Gordon D’Arcy’s position ended when Luke Marshall was concussed on Ulster duty. Saying that, I don’t think there ever was a debate in Schmidt’s mind.
There has been little grumbling about the team selection despite the fact that Ireland are without two Lions wingers [Bowe and Simon Zebo], Sean O’Brien, who is arguably our best player, and our best player of the Six Nations, Peter O’Mahony. Iain Henderson deserves his start at blindside and while it may be a risk having him as the only second row cover in the squad, I’m sure Rhys Ruddock could do the job if called upon. Schmidt has even managed to keep Eoin Reddan and Isaac Boss rotated and happy, with the former getting the bench spot this week.
Italy have made a lot of changes, particularly in the back row and in the half backs. They are laying out their stall, pure and simple, for a big, big home game against England, which is no bad thing for us. Any side would miss [captain] Sergio Parisse and Italy certainly will. It will be noticeable that he’s not there; the ground he covers in attack and defence is immense. He is one of the best players of his generation.
In rugby, players so seldom get that nice swansong. I definitely didn’t and neither did an Irish stalwart like Ronan O’Gara. There are so many accolades that he has missed out on in the game — no IRB Player of the Year, World Cup, not being on the pitch after a Lions win. I’m glad that he is getting the attention and plaudits now.
I had been at Leinster around a decade when Brian came on the scene. This young, cocky kid with an great skill and an incredible turn of pace from a standing start. He went through that stage where he had the world at his feet at an early age to where he is now, an absolute ambassador of the game.
It would be too hard to pick one moment out from my time playing with Brian but he really developed our game and kept the ball alive. You’d be used to a backline player taking the ball as far as they can and going to ground; getting yourself ready to ruck. With Brian, you had to stay alert and he’d somehow get an offload away. Sometimes it would come out of his ear.
Defensively, he’d pull off these huge hits and get up for more. He also developed his game, as the years went by, to become a midfield poacher and an extra body pitching into those rucks. I lost count of the times that I would be on a pitch, during and after a game, wondering ‘how does he do it?’
When we used to play Martin Johnson, for club and country, the first thing we wanted to do was kick the living daylights out of him and get him off the pitch. He, like Brian, was more than the sum of his parts — an icon and a leader. It was always useless though. You were just wearing out your boots.
O’Driscoll has taken some big hits from the likes of Luther Burrell and Scott Williams in this Six Nations but he has done so all of his career. I’m sure Williams enjoyed the plaudits after his big tackle on him but where is he now? His championship is over and he’s watching the action with his arm in a sling.
The other side of his game is that he is a thorough professional. This retirement, farewell stuff will sit uneasy with him. He’s a quiet enough guy that way. His aattitude will be that Ireland have a game to win; that is the most important thing. He will not tolerate talk in the dressing room of ‘Let’s win it for Brian’.
Italy need to be beaten. You can’t assume any more that you will take them on and they will wilt. Ireland, though, have the firepower to do it and, with Schmidt and O’Driscoll driving them on, they should go to France with a championship still up for grabs.
@shanebyrneoffic played hooker for Leinster and Saracens, won 45 Test caps for Ireland between 2001 and 2005 and 4 Test appearances with The British & Irish Lions.
