It did not take long for Tana Umaga to hear the year 2005 mentioned but when it came, the question was not the one he’d been bracing himself for.

British and Irish Lions coach Warren Gatland should take note — All Blacks fly-half Beauden Barrett is on a different planet right now and might be even better than three-times World Player of the Year Dan Carter, New Zealand rugby pundits have said.

Carl Hoeft, a key member of the Maori All Black management team preparing for Friday’s sold-out clash with Munster at Thomond Park, is under no illusions about the challenge awaiting his side.

By Brendan O’Brien

Had things gone differently, then former Limerick minor hurler Stephen Fitzgerald might be preparing for a big one in the Gaelic Grounds instead of being part of an Irish squad bidding for glory at the World Rugby U20 Championship in Italy.

Look in isolation at Leinster’s Rugby Champions Cup quarter-final with Bath at the Aviva Stadium today, and it is tempting to ponder what, if anything, has changed in this tweaked version of Europe’s premier club competition.

He is the greatest rugby player of his generation — perhaps of all time.

Come Sunday the veins under Cedric Abellon’s war paint will be throbbing.

Make all the noises you want about the team, and the match, and the result, rather it being Brian O’Driscoll’s final international — O’Driscoll himself certainly did so all last week — but there’s no point in being reasonable.

If Brian O’Driscoll is expecting a teary-eyed farewell from the 80-odd thousand at the Stade de France today, then he may well get his wish.

The other day in a nice sitdown piece for RTÉ, Shane Horgan brought Brian O’Driscoll back to where it kind of all began for him: St Patrick’s weekend, 2000, Paris.

New Zealand have dominated the International Rugby Board awards with Kieran Read being crowned player of the year.

Brian O’Driscoll says he is “fresh” and ready to play in whatever game Joe Schmidt deems fit, but admits that he would love one last crack at the All Blacks.

Fourth in the table, one victory from four games and safety from the wooden spoon is not yet guaranteed. It has hardly been a Six Nations to savour for Declan Kidney’s men but tomorrow’s meeting with fifth place Italy is far from a dead rubber, not least because it could be the last time we see Ireland’s greatest ever player take to the field in a green jersey.

The transfer of Ireland out-half Johnny Sexton to Racing Metro has acquainted Irish fans of the oval ball with a fact of life: A new breed of owner now holds sway in French rugby and they will allow little to get in their way.

Brian O’Driscoll has given his most definitive admission yet that the forthcoming RBS 6 Nations could be his final championship.

The New Zealand Rugby Union president will travel to Ireland at the weekend to view a new €1,500,000 pitch and clubhouse development a small rugby club has undertaken in partnership with a local GAA team.

As captains go, Doug Howlett has played for the best, and if he can come anywhere close to emulating their success, Munster are in the best possible hands.

It shouldn’t even be close.

Returning Munster to the pinnacle of European rugby is the challenge new coach Rob Penney has set himself.

Munster intend to have Rob Penney’s management staff appointed by the time the new head coach arrives in Ireland this summer.

With the minimum of fuss, Munster have found their man and though their choice of Rob Penney may raise eyebrows in some quarters, the New Zealander appears to be quite a catch.

The provincial spotlight is set to remain firmly focused on Leinster and Ulster this week as Munster are at least a week away from announcing who will fill the hot seat on Tony McGahan’s departure at the end of the season.

Munster coach Tony McGahan has been linked with the soon-to-be-vacant head coach’s role at Western Force in Australia, despite the fact that he has already announced his decision to take up a role with the Wallabies next season.

Those who believe everything comes and goes in cycles have had that view well and truly confirmed by events in Irish rugby over the past 20 years.

Former Ireland and Munster flanker Alan Quinlan believes Anthony Foley has the credentials to be given a shot at the provincial coaching job.

Munster may turn to All Black legend Tana Umaga to provide the missing link in a new coaching management team with former skipper Anthony Foley.

“LIFE is too short to hold a grudge, also too long,” a wise man once reflected, clearly outside the earshot of Angelo Mosca and Joe Kapp — the two septuagenarian ex-football players, who made news worldwide this week when they brawled at a Canadian Football League alumni lunch, over an incident that happened in 1963.

Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll will undergo surgery for a trapped nerve in his shoulder next week and is expected to be ruled out for up to six months.

World Cup-winning coach Graham Henry has officially stepped down from his role in charge of the All Blacks but looks set to move into a background position with the New Zealand Rugby Union.

THERE’S pressure, and there’s what Graham Henry is enduring at the moment.

HE’S got much more pressing matters on his mind in the coming days and weeks, but Brian O’Driscoll’s ears are sure to have pricked with the news from the other side of the world his nemesis could be eyeing a sensational return to international rugby.

New Zealand’s new “superman” Sonny Bill Williams revealed today how Jonny Wilkinson inspired his remarkable rise from rookie centre to All Blacks international.

DOUBTING the quality of the players lining out for Toulon in this afternoon’s Heineken Cup game against Munster at Thomond Park would serve no useful purpose.

GRAHAM HENRY went into his Test week with Ireland celebrating one huge triumph already after the All Blacks coach yesterday persuaded Sonny Bill Williams to give up the chance of becoming the highest paid player in rugby history.

Toulon coach Phillippe Saint-Andre has included a host of star names, like Jonny Wilkinson and Tana Umaga, in his 27-man squad to play Connacht in the Challenge Cup semi-final at The Sportsground on Friday night.

WHEN Gordon D’Arcy eyes up his opposite number ahead of tomorrow’s crucial Six Nations clash between England and Ireland at Twickenham, he will see a man born and raised in New Zealand, shaped in England and polished in France.

I AM astounded that Brian O’Driscoll has been sensationally passed over for the International Rugby Board player of the year award for 2009 in favour of New Zealand’s Richie McCaw.

Stephen Donald will start at inside centre for New Zealand in Saturday’s Tri-Nations showdown with South Africa in Hamilton.

The absence of injured duo Luke McAlister and Conrad Smith has left New Zealand's coaches with a selection headache ahead of next month's Tri-Nations Tests against South Africa and Australia.

1,518 days since THAT tackle, Tana Umaga and Brian O’Driscoll shook hands for the first time yesterday.