Gatland remark angers coach

EDDIE O’SULLIVAN didn’t like Warren Gatland’s recent comment that it was a mistake to give the captaincy to Brian O’Driscoll. O’Sullivan bristled visibly in Edinburgh last night when the matter was raised at the Irish press conference.

He didn’t refer to his predecessor but laid it on the line for all to hear: “I think it’s a silly discussion to have at this point. It might have been worth discussing in October when we appointed him for the Australian game because nobody knew how it would go. But I think the proof of the pudding is in the eating. I don’t want to embarrass the guy, but every time he has played for Ireland, his performance has been world-class. Everyone felt the captaincy might impinge on that, but we’re talking nonsense here. Leave the guy alone. Let him play rugby.”

O’Sullivan, of course, is entitled to be a little bullish now that he has led Ireland to a record seven successive international victories. He, Declan Kidney, Niall O’Donovan, Brian O’Brien and the rest of the backroom team can take a bow and now there’s genuine hope for a really big campaign with Italy and Wales looking relatively easy pickings away from home and France and England due at Lansdowne Road.