O’Driscoll: change at the top is good for us

IT WAS a relaxed and smiling Brian O’Driscoll who turned up at the Aviva Stadium for press duties yesterday and no wonder. Most men must make do with just the one honeymoon period; the Leinster and Irish centre is currently in the midst of two.

Recently married to Amy Huberman, O’Driscoll is also enjoying life under the guidance of the province’s new coach, Joe Schmidt, who takes the reins in Dublin 4 this season after the departure of Michael Cheika to France.

Schmidt has, of course, travelled the opposite path, vacating his role as Vern Cotter’s right-hand man at Clermont Auvergne after an earlier stint at the Auckland Blues for his first taste of life as a head coach.

“Joe’s been great, he’s a very easy-going guy,” said O’Driscoll. “He’s obviously got his own ideas on how the game should be played. It’s nice to hear a different voice. As fantastic as Cheiks was, the change is probably good for the squad.

“A new man has come in, throwing in new things, challenging us in different sorts of ways. That’s important as a professional player, if you’ve played a long time, that you continue to get challenged because I don’t know anyone who’s the complete player.”

Schmidt was backs coach with Clermont and all the indications so far are that he will encourage a more ‘heads-up’ brand of rugby than Cheika, who gravitated towards a more structured approach the longer he resided in Ireland.

Schmidt is different to Cheika in other ways, too.

“Michael was quite an intense character,” said Shane Jennings. “He nearly ran the place like a business — he has a business background — and that’s the way he was, whereas Joe is probably a bit more calm from first impressions.”

How Schmidt’s ideas translate in Ireland remains to be seen and the South African will also have to get used to the rigid structure put in place by the IRFU, which dictates how many games the country’s top players play in each season.

Leinster play Wasps in a pre-season friendly this Friday and kick off their Magners League campaign in Glasgow seven days later but Jonathan Sexton indicated yesterday that he may have to wait until late September before being introduced.

O’Driscoll is another leading light facing a delayed start to the season after Ireland’s summer exertions in New Zealand and Australia and the Irish centre is not exactly pencilling in any prospective dates for his return to action just yet.

“It’s week four of pre-season and I’m just trying to get fit, get strong and make sure my skill levels are up to speed. When we get closer to the games, then Joe and the management — and the Irish management — will decide that guys who were on tour are going to be involved so I’m going to let them come to me and not me go to them.”

The cotton wool approach has worked well in recent times and will, if anything, be even more conspicuous this year, what with the sight of the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand looming large over the horizon in just 13 months.

Meanwhile, Geordan Murphy was yesterday reconfirmed as Leicester Tigers captain by head coach Richard Cockerill and will lead a heavyweight squad against Munster at Musgrave Park on Friday (7pm).

Cockerill is also expected to give game time to the second Irishman in Leicester’s senior squad, Jeremy Staunton, as well as new signings Thomas Waldrom and England Saxons captain George Skivington.

England internationals George Chuter, Jordan Crane, Ben Youngs, Dan Cole and Tom Croft have only just returned to Welford Road this week but, while Cockerill has praised the efforts of the club’s youngsters in pre-season fixtures against Brive and Nottingham, he intends to quickly integrate the senior players back into the team.

“We have just two matches to go in the build up to the Premiership season — the opening game against Northampton — and it will be crucial to give our top players meaningful game time,” he said.

To that end, Murphy will lead a very strong squad in Ireland. Cockerill will hold off naming his side until tomorrow at the earliest.