KIERAN SHANNON- Micko: All done with miracles
For almost a decade he was in and around the Ireland team, yet he never got to go to a World Cup. In Cardiff in both ’06 and ’08 he only came on as a sub; it so happens the best lock in world rugby, a chap called Paul O’Connell, played the same position. But that day this very day 10 years ago, Paulie was injured, just like he is now, and O’Driscoll was in. On the hour mark, he went in for their third try. They still needed a fourth and in the closing seconds John Kelly came up with it, sending all of Thomond into delirium and the world into shock. Yet O’Driscoll’s memories of that day isn’t so much the four tries or even Ronan O’Gara’s immortal conversion but rather the penalties he kicked, or rather the penalties they won, the way they gradually ground Gloucester down.
“Before ever getting a fourth try we had to first win the game. If you don’t win the game there’s no point in saying you got four tries. And there’s ways you go about it. You need to be on the field to sense it. You decide to take the three points, build it up to six, nine, and it starts to deflate them, their heads begin to drop, and then you’ll sneak in for a try. You have to be close to the opposition to see how they’re feeling. That’s a call that can only be made on the pitch. A coach can’t make it. Unless you’re out there you can’t say whether it’s the right or the wrong decision.
