Ireland’s BOD still fit for purpose

The disappointment at losing the Ireland captaincy still lingers but Brian O’Driscoll has been in the game long enough to realise there are more important things in his life than playing rugby.

As he faces the media with a 122nd Test appearance looming in the shape of Sunday’s RBS 6 Nations clash with England at the Aviva Stadium, his man of the match performance against Wales last weekend, his ongoing leadership role under new skipper Jamie Heaslip and the growing clamour for him to not just make this summer’s British & Irish Lions tour to Australia but to lead it, are all dealt with in a thoughtful, considerate way that may not have been O’Driscoll’s style a dozen years ago.

“You think there’s lots more to come,” the 34-year-old veteran said yesterday of himself at age 22. “Not that you take it for granted, but you can’t see that end point when you’re in your mid-20s.