O'Driscoll insists there is more to come

Brian O’Driscoll is confident he hasn’t yet reached the peak of his rugby powers.

In the four years since the last World Cup, O’Driscoll has emerged as one of the most exciting players on the planet and become one of the inspirations behind Ireland’s rise to third in the world rankings.

His 18 tries in 41 Test appearances is a remarkable record, and includes the stunning hat-trick against France on his first visit to Paris in 2000.

The Dublin-born centre knows those exploits will make him a marked man in Australia this month, as Ireland look to grab a top-two spot in a group also containing the hosts and tournament dark horses Argentina.

However, at 24, O’Driscoll is steadfast in his belief that he can still offer more than he has done in the past and is equally certain he can be a provider of tries rather than just a scorer of them.

“I hope I haven’t reached the pinnacle of my game,” he said. “I’m not ready to hang up my boots just yet.

“I certainly haven’t accepted that I have already done the best I can. I would like to think I can still improve and take my game onto another level.

“Things are a lot different now to how they were in 1999. I had just broken into the side then, whereas now people know me and will have isolated my strengths and weaknesses.

“But that doesn’t worry me too much because I don’t put pressure of myself to break defences on my own.

“There are some fantastic finishers in our side and while there might be limited opportunities for me, one of my major aims is to put others into space.”

O’Driscoll will have a chance to put his theories to the test in Gosford on Saturday when he lines up in a side which is expected to record a big win against Romania.

Already massive underdogs, the Eastern Europeans are also facing the loss of leading try scorer Gabriel Brezoianu, who injured his ankle in training yesterday.

Brezoianu had been expected to play on the wing and a final decision over his fitness will be taken after further treatment later today, but if he doesn’t make it, his absence will blow a huge hole in the Romanians’ attacking options.

The Irish camp have already played down talk of registering a big win, although if they fail to achieve that aim, and register a four-try bonus point in the process, it would be a major surprise, especially now talismanic hooker Keith Wood is back to guide them.

Wood’s return after 12 months out with a shoulder injury should ensure no complacency enters the Irish camp during the early stages of the competition.

And O’Driscoll is delighted to have his Lions team-mate back, even if it has meant him handing over the captain’s duties.

“It would be silly to say having Keith back doesn’t take a massive pressure off us,” said the Leinster centre.

“He is a lot more than a captain to us. He does a lot of stuff no-one gets to see and a large portion of that I am glad to be handing back to him.

“At the same time, I will still try to lead as I did when I was captain. I always preferred to do it with actions rather than words and I am not going to change my game now.”