O’Driscoll steers clear of coach debate

Ireland’s veteran talisman Brian O’Driscoll has refused to be drawn into the debate surrounding Declan Kidney’s future as national coach.

The days since the Murrayfield mugging have been consumed with speculation about possible successors, with Conor O’Shea, Joe Schmidt and Mike Ruddock among the perceived front-runners.

“We haven’t collectively got together and said what we do and do not want,” said O’Driscoll yesterday. “The IRFU will make the decision themselves and that’s their role. It’s not the players’ role to do that.

“We know Declan is certainly contracted until the summer tour and all the management are going to be involved for the next two games at the very least so let’s go about trying to win both of them.

“Beyond that it’s not in my control, it’s not in any of the players’ control. It’s about now and trying to stop a little bit of this two-game rot and get back to consistency of performance. It’s as simple as that.”

O’Driscoll insisted the loss in Murrayfield was “100%” the fault of the players but was keen to defend his under-fire successor as national skipper and insisted those critical of Jamie Heaslip for his in-game decision-making simply weren’t privy to the vibes which dictate tactics on the hoof.

Heaslip was, of course, roundly criticised for rejecting an early shot at goal for newcomer Paddy Jackson against Scotland before pointing the out-half towards the posts from out wide at a time when the home team had been temporarily reduced to 14 men.

O’Driscoll can empathise with Heaslip better than most given he was much younger and possessed even less experience when Eddie O’Sullivan first gave him the job during Keith Wood’s lengthy injury absence.

“Some of the criticism by the sounds of things is pretty harsh. I think Jamie is doing a good job. I was in a very lucky situation in that I had some strong leaders around me, guys who had been in leadership roles themselves. The likes of Paulie [Paul O’Connell] was invaluable to me and Rog [Ronan O’Gara] likewise.

“What I am trying to do with Jamie is be an extra voice. There is nothing worse than being captain and feeling there is a huge onus on you to constantly talk. I found that when I had to say less and other people were doing the talking for me that we were in a great place.

“That’s what I’m trying to do: be vocal and be another voice and take a bit of the pressure off him. But what he has been saying is really good and no one cracks it in the first three or four games as captain. You get better the more you do it and I have absolutely no concerns about him.”

It was mere coincidence O’Driscoll was on hand for a media gig two days after the Murrayfield disaster but a good one for coach and team alike given his assuredness and calmness in the eye of a storm.

Not that he wasn’t hurting, but he insisted the last two defeats were in no way symptomatic of a more widespread malaise. Doom and gloom? No. Doom and gloom was losing that third Test to New Zealand by 60 points last summer.

“I was asked earlier if [Scotland] was one of the most embarrassing defeats,” he explained at one point. “Absolutely not. One of the most frustrating? Sure. One of the most shocking? Probably. But embarrassing? No. I’ve played in games where we created nothing and were beaten out the gate. We created a huge amount in that first half and just butchered the final pass three or four times.”