O’Driscoll optimism as Sarries on horizon
Forwards coach Jonno Gibbes said yesterday that the final decision on the centre’s status would be made later in the week and that it would be a collective one between the player, coach Joe Schmidt and Leinster’s medical team.
O’Driscoll suffered the damage during the second-half of Saturday’s opening Pool Two fixture against Racing Metro 92 at the RDS and it was initially feared it could even keep him out of Ireland’s opening November international against South Africa.
Declan Kidney will be breathing a sigh of relief while Schmidt will be keeping his fingers crossed because the influential number 13 has been in superb form when released from the shackles of the IRFU’s player management system which was fingered as a possible contributory factor in his injury by former Leinster coach Matt Williams yesterday. However, the player himself had already sounded an optimistic note about his availability by the time Williams made those comments. It was late on Sunday evening when he tweeted: “hamstring injury not as bad as first thought. Would be gutted if I missed Wembley next week”.
O’Driscoll is better qualified than most players to judge on the severity of such complaints having suffered regularly with them earlier in his career and has developed specialised stretching routines to combat the problem.
“We all saw the stress he was in and the discomfort, certainly after the game,” said Gibbes yesterday. “He’s dealt with hamstrings before and he had a bit of a gut feeling about this one.The scans have revealed a bit more positive news although there’s no definitive answer.”
Schmidt has assigned his side only light duties in the early part of the week after the weekend exertions but preparations will be stepped up Thursday when O’Driscoll will have to play a significant part of he is to harbour hopes of playing. Also in the frame for the visit to London is club captain Leo Cullen who has yet to play this term because of a shoulder injury.
“Everyone knows Leo’s track record and what he offers to the team,” said Gibbes who reported no other injury concerns.
“Saracens were unlucky not to get some points out of the Clermont game. Leo’s temperament and leadership skills would be great to have. Again we’ll make the decision later in the week after we see him get through a bit of work.”
What seems certain is that Jonathan Sexton will return to place-kicking duties against the Aviva Premiership side.
Isa Nacewa has continued in that role since the Irish ten’s return from injury as a replacement against Munster two weeks ago but Sexton reported yesterday that his quad injury has healed fully.
Every percentage point will be welcome against a Sarries side that lies third in the English table after a start in which they have claimed four wins from five. Even their defeat in France last weekend provided cause for contemplation.
“They play two types of games really,” said Gibbes. “A confrontational ten-man game but they had sort of a completely different game against Clermont. They went really wide. They upped tempo and they looked really good against Clermont. They were probably unlucky not to get a reward. They are probably going to play at a different pace to what Racing did. They will probably just have more energy about them and they’ll be a big test for us.”
Gibbes was in fine humour yesterday and had reason to be after his pack stood up to the physical challenge of a much-touted French eight.
One of the most impressive individual displays in what was a collective effort came from flanker Sean O’Brien.
“Against Racing we really worked for that win,” said the Tullow man. “We knew Racing could score from anywhere so we said we needed to stick to our defensive system. We stuck to our guns and it worked out for us in the end.
“I wouldn’t say we were lacking any confidence going into the game with Racing but it does give you confidence playing well at the start of a competition. It’s up to us now to bring it into Saturday.
“Saracens are a very dangerous side. They have an incredible amount of talent and it will be a massive test for us. It’s one we’re looking forward to, though, and hopefully we can give a good performance.”
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