O’Driscoll: Munster old guard still have point to prove
O’Driscoll captained a young team sprinkled with veterans to a bonus-point victory over Edinburgh in the RaboDirect Pro12 league at Thomond Park on Saturday night in a side showing 13 personnel changes and one positional switch from the team Tony McGahan sent out to back-to-back victories in the opening Pool 1 wins over Northampton Saints and Castres.
With just one more game to play before a resumption of the European campaign on December 10 at fellow unbeaten side Scarlets, the 33-year-old second row claimed there are players of all ages looking to make an impression in league action this weekend at the Ospreys.
“There are plenty of guys in different positions, me, Marcus [Horan], [John] Hayes, Donncha [O’Callaghan], who either haven’t been involved or been on the bench in the last couple of weeks, which is disappointing,” O’Driscoll said.
“Our one aim was to win the game and put ourselves forward. We want to play every week and we’ve a lot to prove.
“And all the younger guys want to be playing in the European Cup games as well. For them, it’s more about getting experience and putting themselves forward for now and the future.”
O’Driscoll led a side to a 34-17 victory over Edinburgh whose average age was 25.6 with a backline averaging 23.5. It featured just three thirtysomethings, himself, fellow lock O’Callaghan and loosehead prop Horan, who helped to engineer a penalty try against the Scots but he also urged the younger players, including Saturday’s try scorers Danny Barnes, Simon Zebo and Luke O’Dea, to keep pushing hard for selection.
“For guys who haven’t played a lot of rugby in the last few weeks there were a few mistakes there but you’ll live with that when you score four tries.
“Some of them aren’t that young any more, probably just inexperienced [compared to] a lot of the guys who were left out this week. A lot of us are pushing on in years and it’s vital that these young guys step up to the mark.
“We’re not going to step aside and let them in either, but it’s important that these guys take their chances, that they learn with us beside them. That can only be good for Munster in the long run.”
Munster’s victory pushed McGahan’s team back up to third in the table, two points behind Leinster and leaders Ospreys, whom they face at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea on Saturday night. O’Driscoll wants his side to keep the momentum of three consecutive victories going on their trip to west Wales, before they return a week later for the first of two Heineken Cup fixtures with Scarlets.
“We’ve 13 games on the bounce since the Aironi game, and it’s all about momentum in Europe,” he said.
“You look at our group and the way things have gone, with Northampton getting a bonus point against Scarlets, when they didn’t look like getting it. That could prove to be massive for them. I think from now it’s all about us getting the four points in each game and putting the pressure on the other.
“And in the Rabo, it’s important for us to keep the pressure on. We were the last game this weekend, and we’d dropped to sixth in the table going into it. So it was vital for us to win to get back up to where we belong, in the play-offs.”
Meanwhile, O’Driscoll’s second row partner O’Callaghan, replaced by Donnacha Ryan alongside Paul O’Connell for the opening Heineken Cup games, came in for some praise from forwards coach Anthony Foley in the wake of the Edinburgh victory.
“It’s one of those things. Selection calls are very tight in a number of positions. Some go for you, and some go against you,” Foley said.
“In fairness, Donners led from behind the scenes during the week and on the field he led from the front, put in some great defensive hits and good carries. Hopefully that competition will grow through the side.”
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