O’Driscoll won’t hold back opinion

Brian O’Driscoll might not be ready to become the Roy Keane of rugby punditry just yet but the former Ireland captain has no intentions of pulling any punches in his new role in front of the camera with BT Sport.

O’Driscoll accepts his new ambassador and pundit role will also see the need for a fine balance of analysis and opinion — something which fellow Irishman Keane, the former Manchester United midfielder, was not short of during his time with ITV.

“You can see in different sports that different ex-players have been able to marry the two of still while not necessarily remaining popular, certainly can be respected by those who are still playing, and can give a good balanced, knowledgeable opinion about what is going on. I think that is what people want, they want that little bit of an inside track,” said O’Driscoll.

“The game moves on so quickly and it is about trying to understand some of the nuances about what is happening, rather than just what they are seeing for themselves on the pitch — it is about the reasons why tackles are missed and scores happen, so hopefully I will be able to add my tuppence worth.

“It is just an opinion, one which is not necessarily correct, but one which I am going to put out there.”

O’Driscoll added: “I was at a Q&A with Roy [Keane] yesterday and he was brilliant, great entertainment.

“I don’t know if I will go the same tact as that, but hopefully I will be able to impart similar sort of knowledge about our game.”