Coaches’ rivalry talk having no effect: O’Driscoll
Barely out of his teenage years, O’Driscoll made his Ireland debut under the now Wales coach on the 1999 tour to Australia while also playing starring roles under the Kiwi in successive Six Nations victories over France in 2000 and 2001 – the 2000 victory in Paris remembered for his hat-tricks of tries in a first win over Les Bleus in Paris in 28 years.
O’Driscoll’s rise to international prominence under Gatland saw the Dubliner play a starring role on the Lions tour to Australia in 2001. Some might venture that O’Driscoll played some of his best rugby under the New Zealander. But the apparent long standing animosity between Gatland and O’Sullivan has overshadowed other major talking points ahead of the Croker clash. However, O’Driscoll says the Gatland/O’Sullivan side-show cannot be allowed impact upon the team.
“It (the Gatland v O’Sullivan rivalry) has absolutely no affect on us,” responded O’Driscoll yesterday. “This particular game sees an ex-coach coming up against the coach that replaced him so it’s inevitable that there’s going to be talk. But it makes no odds to us. We’re still going to go out to play a Welsh team we know reasonably well. Maybe the brand of rugby has changed, and maybe their defence, too. But off the field matters are out of our control. It’s something that you can’t let affect you.”
O’Driscoll says the passing of time has erased some of his memories of Gatland’s Ireland reign but he did go so far as to pay tribute to the New Zealander describing him as a coach capable of getting the best out of his players. “Obviously, I owe a lot to Warren as he brought me into the international fray as a 20-year-old,” O’Driscoll said. ‘‘I’m sure he’s developed massively as a coach since he was in charge of Ireland. It seems like an eternity ago since he was coach of the national team. Maybe I’ve taken too many knocks to the head over the years but I don’t remember those days very well.
“He knew how to get the best of a side. I don’t think we had the same player capabilities back then as we do now. But we still managed to bring in some big performances, especially when we were against the ropes.”
When asked whether there was any similarity between the hype generated around the arrival of England in Croke Park last season and the build-up to the meeting of O’Sullivan and Gatland on Saturday, O’Driscoll said both situations need to be looked at differently.
“Last year, we had the added pressure of having lost our first game at Croke Park. We didn’t want to go through the campaign having lost our two home games. That was an added on pressure. It was a case of England playing in Croke Park. The enormity of that itself was going to be on people’s lips in the build-up to it. And, of course, that filtered through to the team somewhat.
“But that was a very different hype to the hype of two coaches going up against each other for the first time in so many years. I don’t think you can compare the two.”
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