Brian O'Driscoll: ‘Reputations don’t count for anything’

No wonder even the likes of Brian O’Driscoll are being kept on their toes as the battle for Test places against Australia intensifies.

Warren Gatland yesterday underlined the depth of talent in his 37-man British & Irish Lions squad when he named another strong line-up to face the Western Force in Perth tomorrow to kick off the nine-game Australian adventure that will shape the way O’Driscoll and company are regarded in the annals of rugby history.

For the Ireland legend and four-tour veteran, a series victory this summer would tick one of the few boxes that remain unchecked in the twilight of a glittering career. Yet despite being named captain for tomorrow’s second tour game in the city where his Lions career was launched back in 2001 as a full-back against Western Australia, O’Driscoll’s observations of last Saturday’s opener against the Barbarians has proved yet again there is no such thing as a guarantee of a Lions Test place.

The performances of Welsh midfield duo Jamie Roberts and Jon Davies in the 59-8 victory in Hong Kong was evidence enough of that and the Irish outside centre will partner England’s Manu Tuilagi in Perth safe in the knowledge the gauntlet has been thrown down.

“Reputations don’t really count for anything when you look at the form of the centres in particular,” O’Driscoll said yesterday.

“We’re very, very strong there and I think the two boys played well on Saturday in very, very difficult conditions. Now the baton’s passed over to myself and Manu to try and stake our claim and that’s what we’ll be trying to do.”

With tour captain Sam Warburton still on the sidelines with a knee injury, O’Driscoll succeeds Paul O’Connell as skipper of a side showing changes in all 15 positions from the team which started against the Barbarians, featuring eight Irishmen, four Welsh and three English.

Yet Gatland’s selection still whets the appetite with a formidable pack, power and pace in the back three of George North, Tommy Bowe and player of the 2013 Six Nations Leigh Halfpenny and an all-Irish half-back pairing of Conor Murray and Jonny Sexton.

And with only Warburton, Gethin Jenkins and Rob Kearney, all recovering from injuries, possibly the only Lions to remain unused heading into Saturday’s game in Brisbane, O’Driscoll has seen the squad develop nicely.

“I think we’re getting there. We’re having a good laugh together, we’re enjoying each other’s company.

“That was a really hard week last week in those conditions. I think our [Sunday training] session peaked at 38 degrees so whatever the humidity might have been it was a tough session. Those sort of sessions will stand to you when you’re toughing it out with the guys. I think that’s how you get to know one another well and really understand how much you’re willing to dig for one another and not be the weakest link.

“All those sorts of sessions stand to you and bond you together in a way that you’re not really conscious about and then once you get that with the having a laugh together and being able to switch off and socialise together and rooming with one another, it just combines everything well together.”

That will be vital, O’Driscoll suggested, if the Lions are finally to end the drought of series victories that pre-dates his involvement, the last squad to return home as conquering heroes doing so from South Africa in 1997.

“You tend not to be able to tip away to get to the Test series and [then] be phenomenal,” he said. “It is a rarity. You have really got to work towards building your game plan, your defensive systems, your kicking game all the different dimensions of the game so when you do get to the Test they are at a very high level and you are able to kick it on to the next level.

“It is very difficult if you are just stuttering and starting in the first five or six games.”

O’Driscoll’s experience may miss a Lions series win but he certainly grasps what it takes to achieve success and Australia may just provide the type of challenge he relishes most.

“I just like it because I enjoy the country, the people, the big mixture to it. I enjoy the weather and I enjoy playing against some of the top opposition and when you play Australia and Australian teams you have to really try and out-think them.

“That is another factor to the game besides trying to out muscle them and being more physical to often be tactically astute both in attack and defensively. All of those things make it an exciting proposition. I have fond memories of good days, some not so good days, some of my best memories of rugby are playing against Australia”.