Best still deserves Ireland call, reckons O’Driscoll
Brian O’Driscoll could probably relate to some of the thoughts swirling around Rory Best’s head right now. Like the Ulsterman, O’Driscoll wore the Irish armband on many an auspicious occasion but he also knew dark days to match last Saturday when Joe Schmidt’s out-of-sorts side was put through the ringer by England.
Ireland used to be a team that was renowned for its consistent inconsistencies but the spiral in the side’s fortunes this year has been shocking in the wake of such a memorable 2018 and O’Driscoll certainly knew what it was like to be the leader in a team that could go so quickly from heroes to zero.
The Leinster centre was first among equals when Ireland flopped so badly at the 2007 World Cup and he was skipper when any prospect of a back-to-back Six Nations Grand Slam went all ends up in Paris in the spring of 2010 when France had 23 points to spare on them.
He was captain when Declan Kidney’s Ireland conceded 68 points to the All Blacks in New Plymouth later than summer and the man leading out the team again when New Zealand scored 60 without reply in Hamilton just a week after Ireland were robbed of victory against them seven years ago.
What O’Driscoll couldn’t possibly relate to is the chatter about Best’s form. Nobody ever questioned whether O’Driscoll was the right man for the No 13 shirt. Best’s place in the front-row has come in for uncomfortable scrutiny this calendar year and that has only increased since he — and many others — gave such a below-par performance in Twickenham.
“There is a lot pressure on Rory now from a leadership point of view,” said O’Driscoll.
I think you stay with Rory, by the way. You can’t go changing your captain and the guy that has been there for the last three or four years but, God, I can only imagine what he feels like after a Test match at 37 years of age, having done it in the front-row all your life.
“He doesn’t have to be the best player on the pitch, he just has to be good enough because his leadership is important. But he has to be able to justify his position and at the moment, there is a lot of uncertainty around that and he has to dispel that.
“He doesn’t have to be a standout performer. He just has to hit his darts, scrummage, and hit some rucks. His ball-carrying has pretty much vanished so let other people carry. Be a ruck-hitter and be the voice of reason.”
When O’Driscoll was captain and Ireland were struggling for form, he made a point of telling his players that their first priority was to look after their own patch and not to worry about anyone else.
It’s a mantra he believes the current generation should mirror, especially with so many team leaders needing to up their games.
He has no doubt that “confidence has undoubtedly taken a serious whack” but he was tempted into a state of complacency when Ireland were beating all around them and so he’s mindful that things can change for the better just as quickly as they did for the worse.
Like Schmidt yesterday, he singled out New Zealand’s recent 36-0 win against Australia one week after being pulverised by the same opposition and he harbours the sense too that Ireland may have needed a reminder of just how bad things could get against one of the world’s top sides when they don’t have their act together.
One concern now is that they resolve to work harder rather than smarter.
“More isn’t always better. You have to be conscious, particularly going into a World Cup, when you are away from home — and these guys have been away from home for a number of weeks and months already — that you can lose light of the importance of being able to switch off from it as well.
“For Joe this is his passion and his pleasure and his job. His everything. Joe loves rugby and he will gladly chat about it the whole time whereas some lads need to switch off from it. That’s really important when you go to World Cups, when you are in a foreign country and there is no opportunity to get home.
“That is vitally important. There still has to be a fun aspect to it and an enjoyment. When do you play your best rugby? When do are enjoying it and when there is a freedom. When you are tight and it is all-consuming you are not going to be at your best.”
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