‘We can’t train like Tarzan and play like Jane’

If Brian O’Driscoll had a euro for every time his try against Australia in Brisbane 12 years ago has been replayed, discussed or even mentioned in passing, Ireland may have been better placed going to him for a bailout than the Troika.

But that was 2001. Waltzing O’Driscoll, dancing his way through the Wallabies defence in that momentous first Test at the Gabba is but a distant memory for the man himself. It may be his personal highlight but after three tours later, the Ireland centre is justified in thinking that maybe it is time to make a little more history for himself and the British & Irish Lions.

Inevitably, as the 34-year-old faced the media on the eve of today’s first Test of the 2013 series with the Australians, another euro went into the imaginary pot.

“It is the only Test match I have won in six,” O’Driscoll said. “And it was a great day and it is time to add to it. I don’t want to be someone who has a lot of appearances but ultimately not won a series. That is what ultimately it comes down to.

“You talk about the fun and the gelling [of the squad] and everything but at the end of the day, if we got on terribly, I’d take that above getting on great and making friends and losing a series, that is not what this is about.”

Winning a Lions Test series, it was put to him, then, was the holy grail in a rugby career that has brought Heineken Cups, Triple Crowns and a Grand Slam.

“I think so. I’m not going to be involved in any more World Cups and it’s probably a big shout for Ireland to win a World Cup, but that apart, for me the only other attainable thing that I’m going to be able to achieve in my career that I haven’t previously won is winning a Lions Test series.

“I dearly want to be part of that for my own sake but also for the Lions’ sake going forward. I think we need to win one of these series soon and let’s hope it starts [today].”

O’Driscoll and the Lions have become synonymous with every tour he goes on but the Irishman said he never gets tired of being a part of a concept he still considers the ultimate accolade for players from these islands.

“The top 37 players in Britain and Ireland. And you realise the amount of people that do play your sport and yet you’ve been selected in that. With the calibre of players that go on Lions tours I think that married with the history of great Lions tours — ’71, ’74, ’97, ’89 — memorable moments for people that are Lions fans. And it’s so unique that four countries are shouting for you for a seven-week period. It’s kind of bizarre, but it’s brilliant, and for them to have love for you as a collective for that period makes it unique and very, very special.”

Naturally, O’Driscoll does not want to see the Lions become anything less than the ultimate.

“I really hope not, because you see it in the guys that are first-time Lions. They see how big it is and you know that one hit of it isn’t enough if you can get a second or a third hit. You crave that and you can see it in the disappointment of the guys that didn’t get selected, that this is the ultimate for a British and Irish player. The honour of playing in that jersey; it’s a very, very special jersey.”

The feeling does not change but the workload and the type of rugby is very different from his first tour those dozen years ago, as O’Driscoll explained.

“It is a different existence from 2001. The level of detail we go to. We did a long season in 2001 yet were still going out and doing hour, hour-and-a-half, sometimes two hour pitch sessions, sometimes twice a day. If I did that now I’d have died a couple of weeks ago. You couldn’t survive that, such is the intensity of the games.

“You can’t train like Tarzan and play like Jane, you’ve got to do it the other way round.”