O’Driscoll so focused on beating Blacks

Brian O’Driscoll says he is “fresh” and ready to play in whatever game Joe Schmidt deems fit, but admits that he would love one last crack at the All Blacks.

O’Driscoll had been out of action since the middle of September with a calf injury but trained in the past week, and Schmidt said on Thursday he felt the celebrated centre could line out against Samoa in the first of the November internationals.

The 34-year-old took some time off last night for his testimonial dinner in Dublin but is very much focused on kick-starting what has been a truncated season to date, with just 73 minutes of playing time.