Aussies keen to test themselves against ‘superstar’ O’Driscoll

THEY may have just beaten the All Blacks to claim the Tri-Nations championship but Australia’s all-star backline were treating their Irish counterparts with the utmost respect when they faced the media at their team hotel in Auckland city centre yesterday.

By common consensus, Ireland’s star man remains captain Brian O’Driscoll with Wallabies scrum-half Will Genia leading the plaudits when he said of the centre: “He’s a superstar of the game.

“He’s done everything and been around for a long, long time and that’s a sign of a great player in this game.”

Asked how long he had been aware of O’Driscoll, 23-yearold Genia reacted with incredulity.

“He’s famous, man, world famous because he’s an absolute superstar. Brian O’Driscoll, everyone knows who he is.”

Australian centre Anthony Faingaa admitted O’Driscoll was an idol of his and had obviously been paying close attention to the former Lions captain’s career.

“It’s going to be a fantastic opportunity if I get it to play against him. He’s been one of the standout players over the last 10 years and to get that opportunity of facing him at a World Cup will be great.

“The whole Ireland backline has shown some great talent. It’s going to be a tough game and Brian directs the play. He’s someone I idolise and someone that’s been great for rugby.”

Faingaa, of course, will be in line to be his idol’s nemesis come Saturday and he said: “That’s the idea. Brian’s the type of guy that slips out of tackles. I’ve been watching footage over the last five years and it seems that even when you think you’ve got him tackled he just gets out of it. So it’s making sure you get the simple things right.”

Adam Ashley-Cooper, another centre who started on the wing for Australia in their opening 32-6 victory over Italy, also heaped praise on Ireland.

“I always look forward to facing the Irish, they’re a tough, competitive team,” he said. “It’s going to be a harder challenge for us on Saturday night with the likes of O’Driscoll there, one of the world’s best who the whole team respects, so it’s going to be tough. O’Gara and Sexton are both great players and they’ve got Kearney at the back there too, so they’ve got a lot of talent. And in that pack they’ve got some big ball-running forwards and they get a lot of ascendancy, so it’s going to really take some spark to shut them down because if they get that ascendancy and that forward momentum they can create a lot with those talented backline players”