Captain or not, Drico will lead by example

Brian O’Driscoll claimed his man of the match award and insisted losing the Ireland captaincy does not make a difference to his game or his leadership.

Having been replaced as skipper a fortnight ago when head coach Declan Kidney appointed Jamie Heaslip to the role for this year’s RBS 6 Nations, O’Driscoll made an emphatic return to life back in the ranks when he made the first and scored his team’s third and final try in Ireland’s victory over reigning champions Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.

It was a performance that earned him the official man of the match award and silenced any misgivings that displeasure at being relieved of the captaincy would see the 34-year-old giving anything less than total commitment on his 121st Test appearance.

“I don’t think it makes any difference,” O’Driscoll said. “I still see myself as a leader within the team and helping Jamie out where I can. I don’t think you play any differently whether you have the captaincy or not, you just go out and try to play the best you can and lead by the way you play.”

Kidney’s explanation for handing the captaincy to Heaslip was to enable O’Driscoll concentrate on returning to full match fitness after missing the autumn internationals following an ankle injury and the Ireland outside centre added: “I think a big thing is trying to be fit and getting as close to 100% fit taking the pitch as you possibly can.

“It felt good, the ankles both felt good, and all the other bumps and bruises felt good so if you can start games that way, you’ve every chance of putting in a half decent performance.

“A few things ran for me and I managed to get across the try line but it doesn’t matter for anything if we didn’t win the game. We won that and I’m delighted, like everyone else is.”

O’Driscoll is now looking for Ireland to build on this opening victory when they welcome an England side to Dublin on Sunday.

“It’s a good start for us in this Six Nations, we stopped the rot of three previous defeats (to Wales) and now it puts us in a good place having England at home next week. But no more.

“This championship’s about momentum. You lose the first, you’re in trouble, you win the first and you’re in a good spot. So we just have to build on that and the understanding of when we did manage to win the Slam in ’09 is that even when you’re not great, you have to be good. And consistency is going to be the key for this championship.”

Reproducing Ireland’s opening try against Wales at the Millennium Stadium, when O’Driscoll drew three players into contact before releasing wing Simon Zebo to score on his Six Nations debut, would not go amiss next weekend against England. The former captain praised the Munster rookie’s skill in bringing the ball under control with a flick of the heel that led to Ireland’s second try while also downplaying his own role in the opening score.

“I’m not going to say it’s classic Brian O’Driscoll, I just saw it was a set play and we just tweaked it a little bit because the option we usually take wasn’t on and it was on the outside.

“Zeebs had to run a great line, he had to trust that I was getting through the gap and putting the ball there and he’s got a striker’s potency, he just likes to finish tries and you could just see his skill level with the second try – keeping the ball up with his foot, it’s nice to watch. It’s nice having those guys on your team rather than playing against them!

“He’s a very skilful guy. He’s got little tricks and he’s good with a soccer ball but he’s a guy with confidence, playing with a lot of confidence at the moment. And you have to be when you’re in your first Six Nations game and you’re trying things like that and pulling them off.”