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O'Driscoll: A man full of regrets, with the power to wash them all away

The recuperating Ireland captain has nothing left to learn on the biggest stage, but plenty left to offer.

BRIAN O’DRISCOLL SITS back comfortably in a seat, halfway back up a Trinity College lecture hall.

His injured ankle props his knees up normally. It’s three days since he returned to training and any ill effects have been mere twinges to remind him to slow down a bit.

He knows his body well at this stage. There’s nothing left to learn.

He speaks candidly about how it’s now “easier” for him to mentally deal with injury and the resulting lay-off. But that doesn’t mean he has to like it.

“It’s always hard, but you know when you’re injured you can’t be (helpful).” Says the centre with Clermont still weighing heavy on the mind of all at the province.

“The last couple of times I was missing, invariably (Leinster) have done a really good job. We just came across a team that were better than us on the day and you can’t have too many complaints.”

Complaints, no. Regrets? Absolutely.

Where many might protest that ‘moving on’ is the professional way, O’Driscoll has a mound of them on his mind.

“I’ve plenty of regrets: I’ve missed lots of games, I’ve missed out on certain games and didn’t perform at certain times.”

Invariably, when you think of the Ireland captain injured during a Six Nations, the overbearing stands at Croke Park come to mind along with a late heart-breaking score from Vincent Clerc.

“That is one regret. It would have been nice to be involved, but we got ourselves into a winning position and then a bit of magic was created by a great player to win the game for France.

“They’re the differences between sides at Six Nations level. A lot of the time it’s small moments and inches in one-score games, So when the clock goes 80 and turns red, you need to be in possession and you need to be in front on the scoreboard.”

His fitness for Ireland’s latest tilt at European glory still hangs somewhat in the balance. He is hopeful of returning to action with Leinster in time to get some match-intensity under his belt. Otherwise, he would be entering the biggest game of the international season cold.

“The first one is huge. It’s always important. The Six Nations is about building momentum and winning first game is big and Wales in Cardiff is a tough venue

Any chance? ©INPHO/Billy Stickland

“They’ll be looking to start well, especially after losing the last seven on the bounce – it’s very unlike them. It’ll be a tough game to go and take them on in, but Six Nations’ are very, very hard. You’ve got to beat good teams in their back yard to win it.

“In fact, you have to beat them to win it.”

This coming summer, this part of the world won’t be so much concentrated on ‘back-yard raids’ as three outback raids. The British and Irish Lions head back to Australia where it all began for young BOD in 2001.

Fitness permitting, it doesn’t seem credible that there’s more than one outside centre who will be picked ahead of him. O’Driscoll will go on his fourth tour.

Left-field

He’s already said he wouldn’t be able to turn the captaincy down if it were offered his way. But if not him, who? The only prerequisite which Ireland’s all-time leading try-scorer can see is that it must be somebody massively respected by everyone in all four nations.

“Warren Gatland’s not going to pick someone from left-field. They don’t necessarily have to be someone who has captained their country, they could have captained their club.

“Listen,” he says with his eyebrows raised at the realisation of how much could happen in the coming five or six months.

“There’s so long to go to this Lions tour. There’s so much rugby to be played from now ’til then. The squad that would be picked now is different to the one that’s going to go in six month’s time – for a variety of reasons.”

All that white hot heat of 2013 (and three tests which may or may not bring the curtain down on an incredible career) is ahead of him, 2012 is just starting to cool off. For O’Driscoll, it has been a badly fragmented year.

“To be perfectly honest I haven’t really reflected that much.” He says before listing the bullet points from the top of his head:

  • ” I missed the Six Nations.
  • Managed to come back to a Heineken Cup-winning team having only played three games of it.
  • Then the New Zealand tour…
  • A very nearly,  then a hockeying.
  • Then I played six games this season and somehow managed to be on the winning side in all six.
  • Then I got injured, and now I’m talking to you guys.”

O’Driscoll learned long ago that the ghosts of Christmas past don’t necessarily predict the future.

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