Rugby News

We might not see him in an Irish jersey for a while yet, but Brian O’Driscoll is damn sure that no obituaries should be written on his career just yet.

Some pundits seemed keen to write off arguably the greatest player the country has ever seen when the 33-year old announced he would be undergoing surgery on a long-standing shoulder problem at the end of last year.

Given his all-action style of play and the fact that he put his body on the line every time he played for Leinster and Ireland, there were doubts about his ability to survive after such a lengthy absence.

O’Driscoll, however, insists he has plenty more to give, so much so in fact that he didn’t rule out the possibility of playing in the World Cup in 2015.

Speaking to Matt Cooper on Today FM, O’Driscoll said: “I definitely see myself playing hopefully at some stage this year, definitely next year and then you just have to listen to how you’re feeling, both from a body and mind point of view.

"If you’re in decline, I’d like to go out on a high, but if you still have a lot to offer. I certainly feel I’ll be around for a little time yet. You know what, I’m not putting a final date on when I’m finishing because the body will give up before the mind will."

O’Driscoll might have suffered a number of niggling injuries down through the years, but it would be easy to overlook his extraordinary consistency. This, for example, will be the first Six Nations he has missed since 2000. Absence is making the heart grow fonder in O’Driscoll’s case and having not played since the defeat to Wales at the World Cup, he can’t wait to get back.

“I feel very motivated at the moment and I feel very rested as well. I definitely needed some time off after the World Cup irrespective of whether I needed an operation or not,” O’Driscoll added.

“I played a lot of consecutive test matches, in fact I looked back and the last test I’d missed, prior to one of the World Cup warm-ups against England, was Eddie O’Sullivan’s last game – I’d played 28 consecutive tests or something – you can’t keep going that way, I’d played a lot of big European games and the body was very tired.”

All in all, it sounds like fighting talk from the Irish captain and it’s good to see there’s life in the old dog yet.