O’Driscoll blasts stayaway stars

BRIAN O’DRISCOLL has slammed the soccer superstars who shunned Giovanni Trapattoni’s invite to the European Championship win in Macedonia earlier this month.

The Ireland rugby captain also admitted he is looking no further than the knock-out stages at the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.

Speaking in America, O’Driscoll sided with football counterpart Robbie Keane against the Skopje stayaways and accused them of disrespecting the international jersey. James McCarthy, Darron Gibson, Marc Wilson and Anthony Stokes all failed to answer their country’s call at the end of the season.

“The guys who are turning down international call-ups, I don’t think they are giving the jersey the respect,” O’Driscoll told the www.irishcentral.com website in New York.

“I don’t think they should be considered for selection when the so-called more interesting games are there to be played and there to be won. For me, it is the ultimate to put on your green jersey. I love it as you are representing the whole country, not just a certain section. Respect is a given for me when you are selected for your country. It is such a huge honour. I’m of the belief that you are only ever borrowing the jersey. You never own the jersey.”

In America to address an Irish Network New York City dinner at the famous New York Athletic Club, O’Driscoll admitted the Ireland squad had hyped themselves out of contention at the disastrous 2007 finals in France.

“We were guilty of talking ourselves up way too much in the last World Cup and that has resulted in a more level-headed approach going forward,” added the Leinster star.

“There is a belief within the squad now that we are capable of certainly getting to a semi-final. So rather than going ‘yeah we can win it’, why not just get yourself into the knock-out stages and into the quarter-finals and try and win that. We are a far more consistent squad and I think there is now real strength-in-depth there as well.”

Borlase home wrecked by earthquake

Martin Crummy

MUNSTER prop Peter Borlase faces more earthquake-related heartache after his house in Christchurch suffered damage in last week’s back-to-back quakes. The New Zealander is currently in America on holidays but his house in the quake zone has taken another battering. After last Monday’s magnitude 6.0 and 5.5 earthquakes Borlase’s Christchurch home was saturated as the water cylinder burst from its holding and leaked its contents. The former Canterbury prop was in Ireland for the fatal February shake and has missed the majority of aftershocks that have ruined New Zealand’s second-largest city.