O’Driscoll sets new targets

Brian O’Driscoll has nothing left to prove to anyone at this stage in his stellar career, but that’s not how he sees it.

Leinster head coach Joe Schmdit has admitted that O’Driscoll is challenging himself to improve the team when he makes his comeback on Friday against Ospreys in the RaboDirect Pro12.

“There’s a bit of pressure that Brian will put on himself to make sure that he’s adding value and, inevitably he does with the experience he has and the skill set he’s got,” said Schmidt.

“I think at the same time he’s got a measure of respect for guys like Fergus McFadden and Eoin O’Malley who filled in for him and I have to say more than filled in for him.

“They grabbed the jersey and I think Brian’s pretty keen to grab it back. It’s a headache for me, but one of those good headaches to have.”

O’Driscoll seems certain to play some part against the Ospreys, but Schmidt wasn’t making any hard or fast predictions about what sort of involvement in the match team captain Leo Cullen might have.

The Leinster coach is waiting to see how Cullen’s Achilles reacts to yesterday’s training session before he decides if the big lock is ready to play against the Welsh province.

“It’s very hard to gauge those things but we’re delighted about him getting out on the training field,” said Schmidt.

The Leinster players who featured for Ireland against England last Saturday will return to training with their province next week and Schmidt is hopeful Mike Ross will make a quick recovery from the shoulder injury that forced him to leave the field in Twickenham.

“I think he’s not too bad,” said Schmidt. “It was something that had been a bit ongoing, I think, so once it was worsened early in the game it made it pretty tough for him, particularly at scrum time and any square-on collisions.

“We’ve been told it’s not something that’s serious, that it’s not something he can’t get over in a couple of weeks’ time with a bit of rest and rehab.”

Schmidt also struck an optimistic note yesterday when asked about the future of Luke Fitzgerald, who still hasn’t agreed a new contract with the IRFU that would keep him at Leinster for the foreseeable future.

Fitzgerald himself has said he’s open to the idea of moving to a club outside of Ireland, but Schmidt is hopeful that he’ll soon sign on the dotted line.

“Well, I’d certainly love that to happen. The longer it goes the more difficult it is for Luke to do planning and the more difficult it is for us to do planning because he’s an important part of our future.

“He’s a player with lots of talent and I think that the IRFU have set their stall out pretty well this year. They’ve managed to sign up most of the Irish squad players that they wanted to keep and I know that Luke’s one of those. I certainly hope there’s something that can be brokered.

“At this stage I’m quietly confident that he will [sign a new deal]. He’s pretty keen to be here, he’s pretty keen for something to happen and I’d hope that does happen.”