We are less predictable than before, says Drico

IRELAND captain Brian O’Driscoll believes the lessons of his last quarter-final appearance have been learned and, eight years on, will not be repeated.

The last time the Irish reached the last eight was at the 2003 World Cup in Australia, when Eddie O’Sullivan’s side finished second behind the hosts in pool play to advance, only to lose 43-21 to France in Melbourne.

Saturday, Wales await with a first semi-final appearance stillbeckoning for O’Driscoll and the skipper believes their knowledge of their opponents would be asvaluable as the experience of losing World Cup knockout games. “We probably got our game-plan wrong that day and we got blown away early on and the game waseffectively over after 25 or 30minutes,” O’Driscoll said. “We would aim to be in the game a bit longer this time around.