Goode hoping for O’Driscoll match-up

ALEX GOODE is not a player lacking in self-belief, so it is no surprise that the Saracens youngster is desperate to line up against Brian O’Driscoll at Wembley tomorrow.

The Leinster talisman is struggling to shake off a hamstring injury in time for the Heineken Cup clash against last season’s Premiership runners-up.

But 22-year-old Goode, who is adamant that the Irishman has been the best player in the world over the last decade, is desperate to test himself against O’Driscoll.

The hope in England is that Goode could become as crucial a figure for his country as O’Driscoll has been, and the full-back — who is slowly converting to fly-half — wants to demonstrate his talent on the biggest stage possible.

And if Saracens do beat the 2009 European champions, Goode wants to make sure it is against Leinster’s first-choice side rather than one hamstrung by injuries.

“I would be very disappointed if O’Driscoll doesn’t play this weekend,” said Goode.

“I don’t idolise him, I just want to test myself against the best players. In my view he has been the best player in the world over the last 10 years by an absolute country mile. If he doesn’t play it will be disappointing for me personally, and disappointing for the game as a spectacle as well.

“We want to beat Leinster’s full side — we don’t want people to say, ‘well, they didn’t have O’Driscoll’.

“But with or without him we will give them a lot of respect. They won the competition two years ago, and with the exception of Rocky Elsom it is virtually the same team.

“They have been at the top and set the benchmark in the Heineken Cup over the last five or six years, and we need to match them.”

And Goode admits the clash is must-win for Brendan Venter’s Sarries after they lost 25-10 at Clermont Auvergne last weekend. With Leinster having beaten Racing Metro, another loss would put the English side on the verge of elimination — something the youngster refuses to contemplate.

“In the Heineken Cup only two of the six pools have two teams qualify for the quarter-finals, and it doesn’t look like our group will be one of them.

“That means that to win the pool we have to win our home games and get at least a bonus point out of our away games.

“If we lose this weekend it will be very tough to get out of the pool. But we have nothing to fear.”

But when Goode was a kid he always thought he would play at Wembley — only with a round ball rather than an oval one. A central midfielder on Ipswich’s youth team books, Goode played county tennis and was in the national athletics finals before rugby became his focus.

“When I was younger I probably wouldn’t have thought I was going to play rugby,” he explains. “I used to play rugby on Sunday mornings and football in the afternoons, but then my mates ended up playing more rugby. I’m very happy with the decision I made to prioritise rugby.”