O’Driscoll and co left twiddling thumbs

THEY were able to mask their frustration, but Brian O’Driscoll and Denis Hickie still admitted morsels of disappointment yesterday. When the time comes to count the cost of this sporting apocalypse, Irish hopes of a Grand Slam may be the biggest victim.

“I was actually in bed on Thursday,” Hickie recalled. “And I got a text from Brian, telling me that the two games were off. To be honest, everyone expected the England game after Wales fell by the way side. I was a little surprised they called Scotland off so early. That game is still a long time away.”

The postponements are doubly frustrating for Hickie. Only coming back to full fitness before the French game, his lack of rugby over the winter meant he needed a strong six Nations campaign to play himself into Lions contention.

Now, he has no games to impress the selectors with.

“I didn’t really play for four months and I have been trying to get as many games as possible. But, it is totally out of my hands and you have just got to live with it. We won’t know how it is going to affect the team until we play the games.”

Hickie has been around long enough to know what kind of blow this is. Ireland were in dreamland after the first two games. Back to back victories had people dusting down record books. Now, there has been a roadblock erected that has nothing to do with the team.

“When you look at the results, and in terms of where the team was going, of course, it is a setback. People were getting behind the team, the morale was high in the squad and things were looking up. But, there are positive points to this.

“It gives the lads a rest at a time of the season when they wouldn’t have got one. It gives injuries a chance to clear up. While it is frustrating, there are some good points.”

Hickie and O’Driscoll were giving a Reebok training camp to kids in UCD, the first of many to be run this year. Bizarrely, it had to be held inside because of the foot and mouth crisis. When the England game does eventually come around, O’Driscoll’s cheeky smile as he trotted away from that contentious French try will be a distant memory.

“The England game was going to be the most hyped game and it is a massive disappointment to everyone,” O’Driscoll says. “But, it was only going to be hyped provided we beat Wales and that was no certainty. People thought the Wales game was done and dusted. Now, with this, they might realise that we still had Wales to beat.

“What was more disappointing was that the Scotland game was cancelled. There was never any indication that would be called off, too. Nobody wants a break at any time from Rugby, not least seven weeks during the Six Nations. But, we just have to cut our losses and focus on when the game is re scheduled for.”

The big fear, among fans, is that the momentum will be lost. The drive from beating France two years in a row, the fact that for once Irish luck seemed to be in. O’Driscoll’s try was an example that lady fortune, who has deserted Ireland so often in the past, was on our side this year. Only for mother nature to intervene.

“Irish rugby hasn’t got many breaks in the past, and this was just one break,” O’Driscoll said of the try which he watched on video again on Thursday night.

“There is no reason for the momentum to stop, though. We are still in a strong place. We have never been in this position before.

“Nobody knows what is going to happen. It’s all up in the air. We have a session on Sunday, but we have to work in the gym. It is annoying, but rugby isn’t the only thing affected.”

Hickie was similarly pragmatic. “Everyone is affected by it and it is going to keep on affecting everyone. While it is frustrating, it was inevitable the way things were going. It is affecting every facet of Irish society, not just rugby. We are just more high profile.”

Hickie said the best the Irish team can hope for is an early resumption to the AIL League, just to keep fitness levels up. There is only so much gym work can do.

At the moment, the Irish team are in pre season mode. It’s time to start all over again. “It gives us a chance to work on what we need to work on, and of course, some players to recover from injury. Brian will be able to sort his shoulder out. And they are talking about putting the Wales and England games on two consecutive weeks, which will create a great deal of excitement,” Hickie said.

Excitement badly needed after the present void. They may be just grinning and bearing it, but in the current circumstances, Irish rugby players could be forgiven for thinking there is a pox on them.