O'Driscoll keeps hand in, legally

Only in these strange days of foot-and-mouth could Brian O'Driscoll find himself sitting around a college campus discussing the latest hand-of-God controversy. "Cheeky," he says, nodding, when asked to consider Raul's palmed goal against Leeds on Tuesday evening.

"I don't think it was very sporting. Because he clearly did it - it was a carbon copy of Maradona's. And he was trying to cheat the referee - that is the aspect I don't agree with. I am not one to say what should happen but that is obviously not in the spirit of sport. Whatever happens, he deserves it and I'd certainly feel cheated if I was a Leeds player."

Not, of course, that the Ireland centre is unaccustomed to involvement with hotly-debated scores himself. The difference is, he just made an honest play and accepted the outcome as the will of the heavens.

A couple of nights ago, he had another look at his much-studied try against the French. That bizarre few minutes in the sunshine, when O'Driscoll stood grinning on the pitch and the officials made small talk and the big screen kept showing replays of his diving stretch for the corner. It seems like a lot has happened since. Or, conversely, that precisely nothing has happened.

Since the big chill hit Irish sport, the Irish players have been doing exactly the same as every other ball player in the country. Biding time. There are only so many hours to be spent cooped up in a gym, running circuits or bench pressing.

So this afternoon finds two Ireland fliers, O'Driscoll and Denis Hickie in UCD for a Reebok coaching session with Tony Ward and an army of local youngsters. The players are happy to be there; at least they get to throw a ball about again.

"It is frustrating, but we are doing as much as we can at the moment," says Hickie. "I was actually resting when I heard that the other two fixtures were to be rescheduled, but that there was an air of inevitability about that, anyhow. There are negatives about all this but it is balanced by the fact that injuries have a chance to heal properly and we can work on things that may need developing.

"And it looks now as if the games might be back-to-back when they do resume. That will be a bit difficult, but from a spectator's perspective, it will make for a great few weeks."

Although there has been general moaning about the abrupt halt to Ireland's rocketing momentum, neither player sees that as a particular hindrance.

"Nothing has changed," O'Driscoll points out. "We'll still be going into the next game with two wins out of two and with the confidence that it brings."

And for Hickie, who endured a rough season before establishing himself as one of game's elite attacking wingers, this situation is far from hopeless.

"We are healthy, we have a lot to look forward to. Since the South Africa match in November, I have just had three games, and so obviously I'm keen to get as many matches in as possible," he says.

"This (the foot-and-mouth crisis) is unique in that it is literally out of our hands. And it's not as if it simply affects our sports in general, it has implications for every facet of Irish life."

Which is why two of Ireland's Lions-in-waiting squelch through a mat soaked in disinfectant and get to be schoolboys again.