O’Driscoll: Doom and gloom premature
Questions have been raised about Munster’s age profile and an alleged absence of decent home-grown front-row forwards nationwide since the European defeats to Biarritz and Toulouse earlier this month.
However O’Driscoll, who was named Player of the Year, at the Irish Examiner-sponsored Munster rugby awards on Sunday night insists that such doom and gloom is premature.
He reasoned: “Two years ago when we were struggling as well, people started getting on our case and were saying it’s the end of the Munster pack and that sort of stuff. But we came back to prove them wrong again. It’s very easy to say that the front-rows in Irish rugby are beginning to struggle and this and that … but roll the clock back a few weeks after the Northampton game and the Leinster game against Clermont, there was no talk of that.
“People were saying how great the Munster and Leinster packs had been on those days and then three weeks later, you come out on the wrong side of two results and, all of a sudden, Irish rugby is in bits. In my opinion, in what people think, in what people say, in what people perceive, there can’t be that much of a difference. You have good days, you have bad days and I think both had a bad day in the semi-finals.
“But look at the other side of the coin. Both teams were away from home, things were slightly against them in that regard and that might have been a factor. You cannot have such variance in what people think or perceive within just a few weeks. I would strongly disagree that the Irish front-rows or the Irish packs are struggling.
“It’s as plain as day that we’re possibly light in the area in terms of props coming through but these things go in cycles and I can guarantee you that there are a couple of young Munster and Leinster props and I presume a few Ulster and Connacht props, that you will see coming through in the next few years.
“Go back to the Six Nations and it was an area where Ireland possibly struggled at times. But there were times when Ireland were also putting pressure on other teams.
“I don’t agree that all of a sudden the Ireland scrum, or the Munster and Leinster scrum, is a bad scrum. These things take time and unfortunately it happens at a certain stage in the season when things don’t go the way you want. It certainly happened for us against Biarritz.”
The fact that so many of the Munster pack stalwarts are approaching – or have passed – the 30 year mark has been zoned in on since their defeat in Spain. O’Driscoll knows the ages of his colleagues off by heart, but rejected notions that lack of youthfulness in the engine room cost them against the French outfit.
“I’d be the first to admit it, I think the youngest of our pack against Biarritz was 29,” he accepted. “But I don’t think that was the problem. If you can say to me, X, Y or Z was unfit or wasn’t fit enough to last 80 minutes, then I don’t think you were watching the same game I was watching. I agree we need the younger guys to start coming through in the next year or two because some of us are getting on. There are no two ways about it.
“I’m 32 in October. But I won’t be like John Hayes or Alan Quinlan, I don’t think there are many guys who can do what they’re doing at their age. I won’t be playing rugby when I’m 35 or 36. We have a lot of younger players coming through in the next couple of years and with the experience of the people there at the minute, things can take off again.”
Be that as it may, a close examination of the ages of many Munster forwards suggests that several should only now be at the height of their powers, not least because of their impressive fitness levels and also of how the elite among them are protected by IRFU guidelines concerning the amount of game time they have.
“Players appetites are as big as they ever were and for as long as that is the case, I don’t see it being a problem. It is said that from 28 to 33 is the prime of a player’s career and on a personal level I’m really enjoying my rugby and while that is the case, I will still be playing.
“If I’m still enjoying rugby at the end of next season and there’s an offer there for me, I don’t see why I wouldn’t go on for another year or two. That would take me up to 34 and God only knows after that.”
Given a combination of injuries and his outstanding form, O’Driscoll must be hopeful of getting the nod from Ireland coach Declan Kidney for the summer tour down under. But does he have the ambition to add to his 17 Irish caps?
“I’d still love to play for Ireland but I’m a realist and there’s nothing I can do at the moment to get into that squad. If the Irish coaches think I have done enough for the last couple of weeks, then they’ll pick me. If not, they won’t. I’d love to be going on tour at the end of the season but I still aspire to play rugby at the highest level. But it’s up to the coaches.
“For me, it’s a case of taking every game as it comes and it’s a dream to play with the guys I’m with week in, week out, with Munster.”
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