O’Driscoll –‘I’ll do it my way’
By Aidan Begley

British Lions Captain, Brian O’Driscoll, hoping to lead them to glory ‘down-under’

Ireland’s Brian O’Driscoll believes it would be an impossible task for him to emulate the previous British and Irish Lions captain Martin Johnson, but he is still confident that the tourists can beat the All Blacks in this summer’s Test series.

Speaking ahead of the 44-man Lions squad heading down under to face New Zealand, the world-class Centre said that he will not try and copy the captaincy style of Johnson – but he will make sure that he stamps his own authority on the touring party.

“Johnno was a natural-born leader for club and country. That’s not just because he was the captain, it was just that was the type of person he was on the pitch,” said O’Driscoll.

“He is going to be a hard act to follow as he is one of the all-time greats in rugby, but I’m not going to copy him as I think that would be wrong of me to do that – I have to do it my own way.”

O’Driscoll has already gone on record as saying that being the captain of the Lions is a job that he was privileged to be asked to do. This sentiment will disappear when he leads the Lions out in the first game of the tour on June 4 against Bay of Plenty.

“If we get our game plan right, combined with the skills and passions from four countries, I have no doubt we’ll win it. It will be hard down there - only one side has ever won a series in New Zealand. But I don’t enjoy things if they’re not tough,” said O’Driscoll.

British Isles sides have only ever won six of 35 Tests with the All Blacks. But after the squad’s first get-together at their pre-tour base near Cardiff, O’Driscoll was upbeat about their prospects.

“I was a little nervous ahead of it but I think it went well. Once I got the first speech out of the way I felt far more comfortable, and I think the days we spent there will help us,” he added.

Head coach Sir Clive Woodward is widely regarded as the most tactically aware and meticulous coaches in rugby. However, the Lions will break new ground on their tour this summer by staging two public training sessions, where Woodward will be openly showing his opponents some of his cards.

The first will be at North Harbour Stadium in Albany, north of Auckland, on 31 May, four days before their opening match.

Woodward said: “Although the All Blacks regularly stage public training sessions, this is the first time the Lions have embarked on such a venture. New Zealand has a fantastic rugby heritage and both players and coaches are really looking forward to making sure that New Zealanders enjoy these public training sessions.”

Ten Irish internationals will be taking the six-week trip to the Southern Hemisphere to see if they can come back a victorious side, and the green contingent will be looking to make an impact after many of them have had an impressive 2004/05 season.

The likes of Ronan O’Gara will be looking to muscle the kicking duties away from the likes of Gavin Henson of Wales and also English rugby’s golden boy Johnny Wilkinson, who at the time of writing is still not included in the touring side.

At 6ft 4ins and weighing 19 stone, the man-mountain that is John Hays is one of the biggest props in world rugby and the rampaging members of the All Blacks front row may well find Hays to be an immovable object standing in the way of them.

Munsterman Donnacha O’Callaghan was one of the surprise inclusions in the squad by coach Woodward. His partnership in the back-row with Paul O’Connell during the Six Nations has made him an indispensable member of Eddie O’Sullivan’s squad, and will see him make his debut for the Lions in the summer.

As for Brian O’Driscoll, he has a golden opportunity to follow in one of the footsteps of a legend of Irish rugby – Willie John McBride – by leading a Lions team to victory. Having already proven himself to be a world-class player, the stage is now set for O’Drsicoll to write himself into rugby folklore.

The Irish Lions.
Backs: G Murphy, S Horgan, D Hickie, B O’Driscoll (capt.), G D’Arcy, R O’Gara.
Forwards: J Hayes, S Byrne, D O’Callaghan, P O’Connell.