O'Driscoll shoulders the burden of expectation

Brian O'Driscoll is looking for a dip in temperature at the weekend but it has nothing to do with the climate. His reference is to France and their traditional facility to deviate between the sublime and slovenly. No prizes for guessing which incarnation he hopes turn up at Lansdowne Road for the Six Nations Championship game on Saturday.

"Everyone knows that the French can turn it on and off when they want. There's no better example than when they beat New Zealand. Anyone who beats New Zealand is a good side. They can blow hot and cold so hopefully it will be one of their colder weeks. It's not a question of us sticking with them but setting out our stall; we want to show them we're the boss.

"I have played against France at three levels and never lost to them. It's a record I'm going to try to keep intact. I think that we have started to get rid of our inferiority complex and we have to look at this game and be extremely hopeful of winning it."

Inevitably the question of historical baggage arrives and that Ireland haven't beaten France at Lansdowne Road since 1983. Twelve months earlier conversation was peppered with references to the fact the Irish had not won in Paris since 1972.

O'Driscoll has to rely on hearsay about those bad old days, having no emotional millstone to support. "I know for a fact that last year there was a lot of talk after we beat them that teams had been going over to France for a lot of years, getting on the plane with a matter of damage limitation in their heads rather than thoughts of actual victory. Last year quashed that completely. Confidence builds through winning.

"You can look at the Munster example and the fact that they are getting into a habit of winning. I didn't have experience of playing in France at senior level before. We definitely thought that we could go over to France and win. We had come off two good victories. We knew that we were playing pretty good rugby and could cause them problems."

Time to get down to the nitty gritty, time also for O'Driscoll to offer the odd neat verbal side-step as the media looked to revive last year's Paris hat-trick. He doesn't seek the spotlight, choosing brevity as a defence mechanism. Will that hat-trick performance make life any more difficult for you next Saturday? "Yes." How much more difficult? "I'll tell you on Saturday at 6 p.m.." Do you expect to be a marked man? "So what."

"I don't think their stupid. They know there's players like Denis Hickie and Hendo (Rob Henderson) who scored three tries last week. They have to keep their eyes on all sorts of players and maybe it's going to be Girvan Dempsey's week."

O'Driscoll is far more comfortable in celebrating the achievements of others and in this instance, his midfield partner, Henderson. "I've just heard that his tackle count was 18 tackles which is huge. He does a lot of unseen work and he was rewarded for that against Italy. He had a fantastic game and also contributed by giving the scoring pass for the second try."

For a player lauded for his attacking qualities, O'Driscoll places great store in contributing defensively. "There are times when you just want to scrag someone when they have got a couple of yards on you but someone who comes head on at you, then you don't shirk any responsibility and you go in and hit them as hard as you can. Obviously it depends on the circumstances. Defence is a huge part of my game because I am not one of the bigger centres playing international rugby, so I think I might have a point to prove."