| Duo’s return boosts Ireland BY
LARRY COONEY
 Leading Irish
British Lions duo Brian O’Driscoll and Paul O’Connell look
set to be key figures in this year’s Six Nations championship campaign.
Both players were expected to enhance their growing reputations last summer
in New Zealand until a serious injury to Lions and Ireland captain Brian
O’Driscoll kept him out of action until early in the New Year.
O’Connell also failed to impress in New Zealand and a hand injury
at the beginning of this season kept the towering Munster lock out of
action until late last year.
However despite Ireland’s disappointing underachievement in last
year’s tournament and also a far from impressive autumn international
series, the return to form of their talismanic captain and O’Connell
has given Eddie O’Sullivan’s team a new sense of optimism.
Even under-fire coach O’Sullivan refuses to heed the pessimistic
views of Ireland’s hopes for this year’s tournament compared
to last year’s contrasting fav-ourites tag which has now been passed
on the flamboyant French.
Ireland’s fortunes have certainly dipped since last year’s
Grand Slam slump and heavy defeats to New Zealand and Australia in the
recent autumn internationals could not have done much for confidence in
the side. Despite the team’s lack of recent good results confidence
remains high with the return of both the in-form Brian O’Driscoll
and Paul O’Connell.
Fresh from recent Heineken Cup heroics when Leinster and Munster both
clinched quarter-final places in such impressive fashion, O’Driscoll
and O’Connell are sure to be eager to bring their provincial form
to the international stage.
However one swallow does not make a summer and after only playing four
games in seven months, O’Driscoll is certainly not making any pre-tournament
predictions about either his own personal objectives or Ireland’s
prospects.
O’Driscoll’s successful re-habilitation from his horrific
injury in the Jade Stadium has produced a much stockier figure but any
questions about possible psychological damage in the aftermath of the
Lions captain’s horrific injury have now been well and truly dispelled.
The Leinster centre’s spellbinding display against Bath in the recent
Heineken Cup clash was the best possible tonic for all Irish fans ahead
of Saturday’s opener against Italy but even better news for Ireland
coach Eddie O’Sullivan is that he claims he is still not yet back
to his best.
O’Driscoll sees Ireland’s opening game as just another step
in his recovery to full match fitness.
He said: “Hopefully with the Italian game I will be able to step
that up another level. My match fitness is getting there. It’s still
probably not exactly where I want to be at but to be realistic I have
only played four games in the last seven months.
“I am not getting ahead of myself, I just want to make sure I continue
doing the simple things well and that helps with good Ireland performances.
I’m getting there.”
While O’Driscoll’s desire to get back to international duty
again and play at the highest level may not be surprising, the pleasing
aspect for all Irish rugby supporters is that their world-class captain
believes that he still has some way to go and has used his long lay-off
to develop “some new things” in his game.
“I am not the finished article,” he states quite modestly
and it is that positive attitude that heightens any rugby fan’s
senses.
The prospect of seeing a fully fit and in-form Brain O’Driscoll
in full flight and possessing one or two extra skills is perhaps the real
reason why Ireland should always have reason to be optimistic for their
Six Nations championship hopes.
Certainly Eddie O’Sullivan’s position must be eased by a
return to form from O’Driscoll in the forthcoming Six Nations tournament.
Ireland will need to maintain their current third place standing at the
very least. Some of the Ireland coach’s decision-making during the
autumn internationals raised eyebrows and were blamed for poor performances.
However the loss of key figures O’Driscoll and O’Connell was
also significant and played its part in the losses to Australia and New
Zealand.
O’Sullivan is understandably heartened by the return of arguably
his two most experienced players in O’Driscoll and Paul O’Connell,
which he sees as major factors in Ireland’s push for success.
He said: “We missed them in the autumn — there’s no
two ways about it. It’s good to have them back and with a clean
bill of health.”
O’Driscoll and O’Connell’s re-emergence is unquestionably
a massive boost for Ireland’s hopes and a genuine reason to be optimistic
that the men in green could do what Wales did last year.
The success of Mike Ruddock’s Welsh side has genuinely given rise
to the belief that any team with potential that is able to get a good
win in the first round could perhaps gain that necessary momentum that
could escalate into winning the tournament.
Who knows and since expectations are at their lowest for Eddie’s
men in green, it could also be the ideal conditions for Ireland to deliver
that coveted Grand Slam beginning with a comfortable home victory against
Italy this Saturday.
Verdict: Home win.
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