Rugby: O'Driscoll keeping feet firmly on the ground

The unsuspecting stranger clearly had not recognised Ireland’s most famous rugby player when he anxiously sought the use of a mobile phone in the middle of busy down-town Dublin.

The initial target of the local man’s attention was a young public relations executive over from London on a whistle-stop marketing trip and accompanying Brian O’Driscoll to a local radio station.

"Here, use mine, it’s Irish," offered O’Driscoll, performing a Good Samaritan role by thrusting his phone into the hands of the complete stranger, who proceeded to ring his friend to check which pub they were meant to meet in.

The fresh-faced marketing man, no doubt used to dealing with over-paid soccer stars with equally over-sized egos, was taken aback by the spontaneous gesture - but the incident merely served to illustrate O’Driscoll’s determination to be himself.

"I don’t see any reason to change," he says. "I don’t think there’s an awful lot to it. You just go along with your everyday life.

"I was in town the other day and wearing a pair of shades, I was hardly recognised. It comes in bursts, particularly after games. If you’ve played well, it seems the whole country has been watching.

"But the day the people stop recognising you is the day you are starting to play poorly so, as much as this is a pain, I wouldn’t give it up for anything."

O’Driscoll and team-mate Malcolm O’Kelly attended a two-hour promotions slot with brewers Caffrey’s as part of their Lions sponsorship, with the duo patiently occupying a variety of poses with cans and crates of the frothy stuff on the pitch at Lansdowne Road.

And for a man who would rather melt into the background than occupy the spotlight, O’Driscoll manages to retain his cheery disposition and an impish grin that defied the rain hurtling down from a sombre Dublin sky.

But the gifted Leinster centre, one of the brightest prospects to come out of Irish rugby for many years, is having to call a halt to his public relations duties other than those dictated by the Lions management.

"It does get in the way, absolutely," he said.

"You can’t split up the day so, from now on, it’s a case of training comes first. They’ve been putting us through the mill. It’s Mal’s fifth one to date. He must have a prettier face!

"I enjoy it to a certain extent, but people don’t realise they’re not the only ones to ask you for something - there’s another 15 asking for something similar.

"They don’t understand even when you explain it. It’s gone mad since the Lions announcement because every one wants a piece of you."

The Blackrock College man has been the darling of Irish rugby ever since he scored his memorable hat-trick of tries against the French in Paris last spring.

He was as automatic a selection for the Lions tour as fellow countryman Keith Wood and, if he is still not as recognisable as the bald-headed hooker, he is more cherished - especially at the tender age of 22.

Yet the gifted son of a doctor appears well able to cope with the high expectations thanks to a single-minded determination to please no one but himself.

He said: "The only pressure I’m concerned about is the pressure I put on myself and the expectation of what the coach perceives my ability brings to the team.

"Those are the only two things I’m worried about. Beyond that, it’s a lot of media hype.

"I try not to read a lot of it about myself, although I enjoy reading about others.

"You know when to and when not to pick up the papers. You know if you’ve had a poor game and if you’ve missed a try-saving tackle - the next day you don’t pick up a paper and read about it.

"I’ve scored a couple of tries in games and thought I played fairly average and yet got the headlines. In a nutshell, I’m probably the best person to judge my performances and that’s all that really counts."