O'Driscoll miffed at Henson's disloyalty

Rugby: Brian O'Driscoll has weighed into the criticism of Clive Woodward by claiming the Lions boss made a number of mistakes during the ill-fated tour against the All Blacks.

Fellow Lion Gavin Henson launched the first salvo against World Cup winner Woodward by slamming his methods and match tactics during the ill-fated tour.

Now Lions and captain O'Driscoll has spoken for the first time about his relationship with Woodward since returning from New Zealand.

And he believes Woodward knows only too well that he got things very wrong on the tour that ended with a humiliating 3-0 whitewash at the hands of Graham Henry's men.

O'Driscoll also spoke of his simmering anger towards All Black pair Tana Umaga and Keven Mealamu over the tackle that ended his tour and questioned the wisdom of asking spin-doctor Alastair Campbell to give a team-talk following the first Test defeat.

But the Irish captain saved his most stinging comments for Wales' Henson who he reckons broke a strict "code" among the Lions by criticising his team-mates.

In his forthcoming book My Grand Slam Year, Henson reckons too many of the Lions were "in love" with the sound of their own voices.

But O'Driscoll, who also has a book coming out this month, said: "I have a few comments to make on how I thought the tour went but none of them are criticising my team-mates.

"You don't do yourself any favours by giving your opinions in a book rather than saying it to their faces. I am not sure if it is down to Gavin's inexperience but I don't think you would see someone like Jason Robinson doing it. And I don't think you would see some of the other younger guys doing it.

"It's just up to the individual and it's the way Gavin wants to vent his personal frustration. I'm sure he will stand by that. Everyone realises there is huge disappointment about not being involved in the first Test."

However, O'Driscoll has also questioned Woodward's master plan to beat New Zealand this summer and in particular the decision to ask former Labour media guru Campbell to speak to the squad in the wake of first Test defeat.

"I can understand some people thinking Alastair Campbell was not the right selection to give a team talk because his experience was not in rugby, it was in media," said O'Driscoll at yesterday's launch of the Heineken European Cup in Cardiff.

"At the time we needed something to pick us up although I am not sure if that was the right way to go about it. I can see why some players had a problem with that team talk.

"In hindsight, things should have been done differently. People make mistakes and you have to live by that. But I don't think I am particularly critical about what Clive did.

"Clive realised himself he had made some mistakes and second time around he would have done things differently. It's more of an objective account.

"It was a great opportunity to go down to New Zealand and win a Test series. I truly believed that. But we didn't get some of the components right to be able to do that.

"We needed to play together a little bit more. Clive came with the thought that we needed to surprise the All Blacks but they were a team that was able to deal with that.

"I stood by him because he was the man who had won the World Cup. He had the experience and I was there to back him up as captain and get across what he wanted to do."

O'Driscoll's tour was controversially cut short just a minute into the first Test at Christchurch when he was spear-tackled by Umaga and Mealamu, damaging his shoulder.

The incident became a source of animosity between the two camps for the rest of the tour. And O'Driscoll, who is still recovering from the injury, reckons Umaga will be in for a red-hot reception when the All Blacks face Ireland at Lansdowne Road on November 12th.

He said: "I don't think Tana Umaga would fear playing in Ireland but the Irish are quite patriotic and they might have something to say to him.

"The initial anger at the tackle subsided very quickly but I'm still surprised no action was taken. I was told there was no malice and I have to take that at face value. But a bad tackle is a bad tackle and should be punished.

"I got an apology of sorts from Tana three or four days later when we exchanged phone calls. He told me he was sorry I got injured and there was no intent. Keven said the same after the third Test. I'm not sure if they were embarrassed but I'm sure they regretted it."

O'Driscoll was also keen to dampen speculation of a move to France when his contract in Ireland expires at the end of the season following his recent visit to Biarritz.

He said: "I have not been in any contract negotiations. As far as I'm concerned I am a Leinster player for the foreseeable future and any comments so far made to the contrary were not made on my behalf.

"Where I will play next year is an on-going thought process but at the moment my main aim to get back from injury."