I've been in Tesco and discovered Tampax in my basket

Brian O’Driscoll leads Ireland into this year’s Six Nations tournament.

After a disappointing World Cup, he tells Michael Moynihan the reason Adam Clayton is an inspiration in the weights room and why Rachel Allen beats Jamie Oliver up a stick

THE NIGHT before I talk to Brian O’Driscoll, he pops up on television. Nothing unusual in that, except this is a quick clip of one of his tries against France back in 2000. The young O’Driscoll: slim enough for his jersey to billow, the hair almost crew-cut short.

When we meet, the Ireland captain nods when reminded of his younger self. Given all that’s happened since that bright spring day in Paris, today’s O’Driscoll would welcome one quick trip backwards in a working time machine.

“There’d be a huge amount I’d warn him about, a huge amount. I think you become the person you are because of the mistakes you make. I wouldn’t change a huge amount, but I’d warn him of a few pitfalls I could have done without — in general, not just in a rugby sense.

“Because even if you’re talking specifically about rugby, everything else feeds into that. There were times I needed to pull in the reins a little, or to loosen up a little, but that’s all part of the learning curve. That all went towards making me who I am now, when I know what makes me tick.”

Trotting out at Croke Park, or Twickenham, or the Stade de France, is the pinnacle, but getting up there from base camp can be a grind. Does O’Driscoll still enjoy the life of a professional sportsman?

“There are parts of it I still really enjoy, that I enjoy a lot more than I did. For instance, I like going to the gym now. I hated that for years, while now I love it.

“Some of that is to do with the people you work with and the motivation you get from them. But in the last few years, with Leinster and Ireland, there’s a competitive atmosphere in the gym — you want to lift more, to get more powerful.

“I have blue Mondays just like everyone else, I get up and feel ‘I don’t want to be a rugby player today’. Shane Horgan and I were in Riverview Fitness Centre a few years ago and Adam Clayton was there, working out — well, lifting 3 or 4kg dumbbells. And nowadays when we’re not in the mood, we say ‘ah, I feel like an Adam Clayton session today ...’, it’s like you can’t be arsed with a heavy session in the gym.”

“But then you get into it. A switch flicks, and while you might be tired at the start, you get that endorphin release and you get a great kick out of it.”

The Six Nations begins this weekend. Despite talk of four-year cycles and World Cups, the hardy annual is always a challenge.

“It’s always difficult on its merits. There are different types of pressure — if you’re playing badly you hope to improve, if you’re playing well you hope to continue and get to the next level, but this time round it’s a weird kind of pressure.

“In the World Cup there was expectation from the general public, but that’s maybe lessened a little now because of what happened — the expectation now is for some kind of performance as opposed to winning the competition.

“The public were disappointed (with the World Cup). Of course. And they had every right to be. Their hopes were raised by what had happened in the Six Nations, we’d played some great stuff and had had that never-to-be-forgotten day in Croker. It’s only human to have high expectations after that. We had them ourselves.

“It was so disappointing ... maybe that’s something I’d change, to go back and say to Eddie and different people, ‘we need to get playing rugby earlier, because we’re not where we need to be at’.”

After France things didn’t pick up immediately. O’Driscoll had a knock that he couldn’t shake.

“During the World Cup I was as much to blame as anyone else, but I wasn’t horrified with my form. I felt sharp, I was able to beat people, but you feel the brunt of it with everyone else because it’s a team sport.

“After the tournament I had a niggling (ankle) injury I was trying to manage, and that was frustrating. My form wasn’t where I wanted it to be, but sometimes you have to expect that, you have to just get through games, to show leadership. Sometimes your presence on the field can have an effect anyway. But at that stage it was a matter of making it through 80 minutes.”

O’Driscoll had 10 days off over Christmas, and the break re-invigorated him. He feels his form has been coming back through January, having given the ankle rest over the holiday period. Is that hard, being judged on performances when you’re not fully fit?

“If you’re talking about what people can see and can’t see, take going out. I pick and choose when I go for my groceries, for instance. I’ve been in Tesco and discovered Tampax in my basket when I get to the check-out because some kid’s thrown them in; I’ve had people ask me if I should be eating ‘stuff like that’ if I pick out some pate in the supermarket, for instance. But people are very pass-remarkable anyway. You have to laugh it off as if it’s the first time you’ve heard it, even though you’ve heard it 100 times before. That’s the thing — everyone thinks they’re the first person to make a comment. I don’t mind that. But what people really don’t understand is that they’re living by what they read in the papers, and you can’t judge someone on that basis. I’m as guilty of that as everyone else, and I should know better.

“Sometimes it’s like they want to mould you into the person they want you to be, when you’re absolutely not like that. That’s something I find difficult, but it’s not a sob story. I have it good, too.

“I live near Dundrum, and if I go up to the shopping centre I know a lot of people will recognise me. And people think you don’t have ears, but as you go by you’ll hear your name, or a smart comment. That’s water off a duck’s back at this stage. I’m not going to stop doing all the regular things any 29-year-old does.”

Such as going to the movies (“Saw Adam and Paul the other day, a bit grim, but very funny; I Am Legend I enjoyed, though I wouldn’t be one for the scary films. That’d be as far as I’d go.”), or picking up a little light reading. O’Driscoll breaks out of the cliché of the usual sportsman’s library: “No, I’ve never read any Lance Armstrong books. I don’t read autobiographies that much, though I’m enjoying My Booky Wook by Russell Brand at the moment. I hated him at the start but he’s won me around.

“He’s so bizarre, so original ... and a very intelligent guy. It’s probably taking me longer than it should because I keep having to check the words he uses in the dictionary.”

Still, most 29-year-olds don’t have the punishing schedule O’Driscoll has. Take next year’s Lions tour to South Africa; given the unfortunate end to O’Driscoll’s 2005 Lions tour, is there unfinished business?

“That’s not even on the horizon. This is my ninth season, and one thing you learn is just how long a season is, and how much can happen in a season. That tour is maybe 17 months away, which is an eternity in my lifetime. I’d never look that far ahead.

“There’s no harm, when it gets a little closer, having one eye on it. But you can lose sight of what’s important in the now, the Six Nations, finishing the Celtic League with Leinster, the summer tour … I’m more of a day-to-day than a long term man.”

And day-to-day there are plenty of challenges anyway. When discussing the life of a pro, O’Driscoll admits candidly to struggling with a very strict diet: “I like my food too much.”

Cheese or chocolate?

“A chocolate man. Big time. I’ve lived on my own for 18 months — I had housemates before that — and it’s hard to cook for one. I eat out a bit, but some nights you’re tired, and you’re wondering what you’ll eat, you’ve the list of fast food places ...

“My signature dish is probably still fajitas, but I do a lot more now from cookbooks. Not so much Jamie Oliver, say, as Rachel Allen. I find her recipes far easier to follow. I love reading a recipe, going to the shop for the ingredients and then cooking it up. There’s a good oyster beef with chilli rice recipe which I really like, but I won’t be on Celebrity Masterchef like Matt Dawson for a while yet.”

Not with the Six Nations, Leinster’s league programme and a summer tour to handle. Never mind overcoming those Adam Clayton days.

Brian O’Driscoll uses the Gillette Fusion Power Stealth, a power so advanced you’ll barely feel the blades. RRP €14.99, available in stores nationwide. For further information go to www.mygillette.ie

SIX NATIONS, SIX QUESTIONS

Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland)

1. What is happening to Britney Spears?

“She’s just fully losing the plot. She’s come full circle and she doesn’t have her own life any more, and she just craves any sort of publicity. There’s only one way for her, and that’s a terrible way to be.”

2. If you had to sit next to one team-mate on a flight to Australia who would it be? And why?

“I could pick a couple, but someone who’d give me huge entertainment and would also know when you didn’t want to talk would be Geordy” (as in Murphy).

3. With a ticking bomb, do you cut the blue, red or yellow wire to defuse?

“I’d be interested to see what people have to say about this. Red probably stands out, but yellow is probably the least obvious.”

4. If I had one super power it would be?

“X-ray vision. You can decide why.”

5. What’s the most unusual rugby injury you’ve witnessed or heard of?

“I’ve heard of a guy who needed to be circumcised because he was having so much trouble. It was a rugby injury and he couldn’t continue playing as a result.”

6. If a bear standing in three feet of water had to fight a shark, and both could move freely, who would win?

“I answered this before but I have a different answer now. If I remember correctly I think I said the bear, but I’m going for the shark now. I like nature programmes on tv and I know the power of a shark bite, the exertion of pressure, and if he makes contact you’re brown bread. It’s all over.” Runners-up five times.

IRELAND

Six Nations best:

Last season: Second, yet again, and Triple Crown winners, but rueing the one that got away at Croker against the French.

Feb 2 v Italy

Feb 9 v France (away)

Feb 23 v Scotland

Mar 9 v Wales

Mar 15 v England (away)

Eddie O’Sullivan, (right)

Captain: Brian O’Driscoll

Stadium: Croke Park

Capacity: 82,300

Forwards:

N Best (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster), R Best (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster), T Buckley (Shannon/Munster), L Cullen (Blackrock College/Leinster), S Easterby (Llanelli), J Flannery (Shannon/Munster), J Hayes (Bruff/Munster), C Healy (Clontarf/Leinster), J Heaslip (Clontarf/Leinster), M Horan (Shannon/Munster), B Jackman (Clontarf/Leinster), D Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster), D O’Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster), J O’Connor (Galwegians/Connacht), M O’Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster), M O’Kelly (St Mary’s College/Leinster), A Quinlan (Shannon/Munster), D Wallace (Garryowen/Munster)

Backs:

T Bowe (Belfast Harlequins/Ulster), G Dempsey (Terenure College/Leinster), G D’Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster), G Duffy (Galwegians/Connacht), L Fitzgerald (Blackrock College/Leinster), S Horgan (Boyne/Leinster), R Kearney (UCD/Leinster), G Murphy (Leicester), B O’Driscoll (UCD/Leinster), R O’Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster), E Reddan (Wasps), J Sexton (St.Mary’s College/Leinster), P Stringer (Shannon/Munster), A Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster), P Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster)

Altogether now, ‘Things can only get better!’ We have to assume that whatever was said in the secretive Genesis report it must surely have been delivered as swift kick up the rear end to all those connected. And Leinster and Munster have certainly done their bit to raise morale.

Gathering storm: The setback in Paul O’Connell’s rehab means the Irish will be sweating on his return at least throughout the early stages of the championship.

Raincheck: Isaac Boss, the Ulster scrum-half is surplus to requirements

Natural phenomenon: Brian O’Driscoll’s talent is unquestioned but the world’s best centre is regaining the form that justifies the label.

Hot spot: Donncha O’Callaghan has shaken off World Cup disaster better than anyone for the Munster cause.

Cold front: Ulster’s Paddy Wallace faces a battle from young gun Jonathon Sexton for the back-up fly-half berth.

If they were a cloud: Mammatus, sagging cloud structures that look ominous, often resembling tornadoes, but are actually harmless, appearing after the worst of a thunderstorm has passed.

Odds: Grand Slam: 16/1; Championship: 9/2;Triple Crown: 7/2; Wooden Spoon: 12/1.

IN MARKED contrast to last season when Ireland were favourites not only for the championship but a potential grand slam, recent World Cup form has dampened the level of expectation surrounding the squad as a whole. The potential loss of Paul O’ Connell for the entire championship could not have come at a worse time for Eddie O’Sullivan who is under severe pressure to produce performances and results.

The minimum expectation is victory in the three home games against Italy, Scotland and Wales, which may be easier said than done given that Scotland have shown signs of improvement and that Wales have the potential to do well under former Ireland boss Warren Gatland.

The comprehensive defeat against France last October at the World Cup does not auger well for the return visit on the 10th February. After four consecutive victories over England in this tournament Brian Ashton’s men will be hell bent on reversing recent trends. The final game at Twickenham is therefore fraught with danger.

With little time to rectify deficiencies that were so obvious at the World Cup this could be a difficult campaign for Ireland with a mid table finish looking increasingly likely.