O’Driscoll unfazed by Kidney talk

Brian O’Driscoll has dismissed suggestions that uncertainty over Declan Kidney’s tenure as national coach is having a destabilising impact on Ireland’s players or the team’s performance.

Kidney is out of contract with the IRFU this summer and his chances of negotiating a new deal suffered a hammer blow in Edinburgh on Sunday when Ireland conspired to lose a second straight match despite dominating throughout.

“We don’t discuss it,” said O’Driscoll, pictured, at the launch of adidas’ new BOOST footwear. “There are always going to be complimentary things said when things are going well and negative things said when things aren’t going so well. It doesn’t have any bearing on us. We know we have two more games in the Six Nations and the next one is France and they haven’t won yet so that isn’t getting any easier. It can’t really affect us one way or another because it doesn’t have a huge amount to do with us.”