In his latter years as a rugby player, Brian O’Driscoll could dead-bat the trickiest of questions and expertly talk sense when faced with hyperbole.
After beating Australia 15-6 at Eden Park, in the 2011 World Cup, O’Driscoll was asked if the result was his greatest ever in an Irish jersey.
“We’ve won nothing yet,” he replied.
This afternoon, Rory Best carried that deadpan torch for O’Driscoll. Ireland’s newest captain was not getting dragged into any headline-making comments about Eddie Jones or Johnny Sexton.
He certainly was not going to admit that beating England takes precedence over all others for Irish players. On Sexton/Jones, he said:
“We have to concentrate on our stuff. Everything else, apart from the rugby, is a side-show for us that we don’t really want to be involved in.
“All we know is that Johnny is a key player for us and a quality player… We haven’t paid a whole lot of attention to ourselves. We’re geared towards looking after ourselves and making sure we’re alright.”
“It’s certainly a great place to play,” the Ulster hooker replied when asked if playing at Twickenham ‘got the juices going’. He continued:
“80,000 people here – it’s a great atmosphere. You want to play in the big venues. This is one of them.
“It’s obviously so close; just across the water from us. There are a lot of ex-pats in London so it lends itself to the atmosphere and that’s what you want to play in.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say England gets the juices flowing more than a Wales or a Scotland. For us, it is a great occasion because England are a quality team and it will be a real challenge.”
Safe pair of hands from the gentleman farmer.
O’Driscoll will be proud.
