Goodbye, not au revoir: O’Driscoll proves an inspiration as Ireland ready for cauldron

Ireland 46 Italy 7

Sounds simple, but when Ireland’s RBS 6 Nations title decider on Saturday evening has to be played in Paris, a city in which the national team has managed to win just once in 42 years, simplicity goes out the window.

It is difficult to gauge whether France’s shambolic yet still winning season is an advantage or a dangerous trap awaiting Joe Schmidt’s side at Stade de France as Ireland go in search of the victory that will surely seal a first Six Nations championship since 2009, the year O’Driscoll led Ireland to the Grand Slam.

Yet the Irish could not be preparing to face the French in a better frame of mind than at present following this rousing, high-tempo, seven-try demolition of Italy at Aviva Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

It leaves them with a very healthy points differential of +81 that is far superior to that of their rivals at the top of the table, on six points apiece, heading into the fifth and final round, while the manner of their victory over a determined but limited Italian side suggests the men in green should for once have nothing to fear entering their very own house of pain in the French capital.

If the 39-point winning margin over Italy was engineered by a resurgent Johnny Sexton, who scored two tries and put his off-day with the boot against the English firmly behind him, it was O’Driscoll who machine-tooled Ireland’s attacking performance to within a fraction of perfection.

On the day he said goodbye to the home fans, who in turn paid homage to 15 years of stellar service to the Ireland cause, O’Driscoll reminded us all in a world record-breaking 140th Test appearance of his enduring and ongoing rugby genius.

Just one week out from leaving the international game behind him at the age of 34, O’Driscoll’s magical touches helped to create three of the four tries scored during the 62 minutes he was on the pitch and ensured the occasion was more than just an extended lap of honour for the ageing warrior.

This was no nod to services rendered but a virtuoso display of a man still at the top of his game and with the rare privilege of departing the stage of his own accord and leaving his audience wanting more.

A blind pass behind him in a wraparound move with Sexton sucked in defenders and created a gaping hole for the fly-half to exploit and score the opening try on six minutes.

A wonderful dummy on 38 minutes to Sexton making a decoy run sold the Italian defence a second time before a pass out to Andrew Trimble for the second try.

And a wonderful offload out of his left hand to Rob Kearney in a breathtaking try for Sexton again on 59 minutes was the crowning glory, coming just moments after he had been winded by a blow to the ribs while making a probing run into the Italy half.

It was his last act for Ireland at Aviva Stadium as the home side opened up a 27-7 lead and Schmidt called him ashore to wrap him in cotton wool for one last trip to Paris.

For he and Ireland are not done yet, and the omens are good that while a return to the place where O’Driscoll announced himself on the world stage with a hat-trick of tries in 2000 might signal a repeat of those heroics, his side can fashion a long-awaited first win since that day.

Schmidt’s players will travel to France with their cutting edge restored after being blunted by an English rearguard at Twickenham a fortnight ago and their defence still holding firm as the best in the championship this season with just 29 points and two tries conceded in four games.

Les Bleus’ deep pride in their forward play would suggest something of a backlash on home turf Saturday after losing eight lineouts on their own throw at Murrayfield and seeing two scrums from their four put-ins go astray. But while the French pack licks its wounds from a right going over by the Scots, Ireland and forwards coach John Plumtree have a set-piece still firing on all cylinders, having successfully dealt with a powerful Italian pack.

There are still clearly things head coach Schmidt will pinpoint for improvement this week, not least some loose passing and handling early on and the 14 missed tackles that better sides than Italy would have punished more severely. The Azzurri were still dangerous enough to inflict some damage 25 minutes in when O’Driscoll’s sliced fly-hack fell into left wing Leonardo Sarto’s grateful hands on the halfway line and he evaded a desperate lunge at a tap tackle from the man of the hour, then a botched tackle from Rob Kearney before wrong-footing last man Dave Kearney to score an excellent solo try that tied the game up at 7-7 following Luciano Orquera’s conversion.

It turned out to be merely a blip but you can be sure Schmidt will be using it to keep his players focused at the end of his first season in charge of the national side since leaving Leinster in the summer.

That the New Zealander could reach his objective in the stadium where as assistant coach he helped Clermont Auvergne end their Top 14 trophy curse by winning the Bouclier de Brennus at the 11th time of asking in 2010 would represent some nice symmetry. Yet it will also be a reference point for him to keep his players concentrated on the huge task ahead.

“One of the things that they talked often about in France is this ‘malédiction’, this bad luck that was always going to haunt the Clermont team whenever they got to a final, and that’s why they didn’t win nine or 10 of them before they did,” Schmidt said on Saturday night. “I’m not a big believer in superstition. I would describe them as the ‘pensée de parasite’, it’s a parasite of thinking that is a distraction, and it erodes the logical mainstream thinking about what you actually need to deliver on the field. I’m not smart enough to be a sports psychologist, so I rely on other people doing the mind fitness and Enda McNulty has been a good addition over the last little while, from before my time, to help guys stay on track and make sure that they are just process-focused and just game-focused.”

Now, ‘pensée de parasite’ may not be a phrase to resonate through an Ireland team room this week but keeping their eye on the prize in front of them will do just as nicely with some long overdue silverware just 80 minutes away.

IRELAND: R Kearney; A Trimble, B O’Driscoll (F McFadden, 62), G D’Arcy, D Kearney; J Sexton (P Jackson, 64), C Murray (E Reddan, 16); C Healy (J McGrath, 54), R Best (S Cronin, 54), M Ross (M Moore, 57); D Toner, P O’Connell – captain; I Henderson (R Ruddock, 54), C Henry (J Murphy, 73), J Heaslip.

ITALY: L McLean; A Esposito, M Campagnaro, G Garcia (A Masi, 63), L Sarto; L Orquera (T Allan, 63), T Tebaldi (E Gori, 70); A de Marchi (M Rizzo, 57), L Ghiraldini (D Giazzon, 70), M Castrogiovanni (L Cittadini, 7; A de Marchi 71); Q Geldenhuys, M Bortalami – captain (A Pavanello, 63); J Furno, P Derbyshire (M Vosawai, 34-40 & 57), R Barbieri.

Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales).