O’Driscoll jumps to D’Arcy’s defence

IRISH skipper Brian O’Driscoll has defended his under pressure midfield colleague Gordon D’Arcy as one of the top two or three defenders in world rugby.

D’Arcy missed a crucial tackle on Aurelien Rougerie that provided a crutch for an ailing French side at the Aviva Stadium and has been targeted since. However, O’Driscoll has backed his Leinster colleague to do the business against England on Saturday. In fact, he’s adopted a bring-it-on attitude to the possibility that the physically imposing Matt Banahan may fill a vacancy in the centre now that England captain Mike Tindall is an absentee.

“Banahan is obviously a different style of player to Mike Tindall,” he said. “He has played some 13 for his club, not a huge amount at international.