Gatland confident O’Driscoll will recover from back complaint to tour with Lions

Warren Gatland remains confident Brian O'Driscoll will recover from a back complaint to tour with the British and Irish Lions.

O’Driscoll has spent the last two days “off his feet” following a back spasm during Leinster’s PRO12 semi-final win over Glasgow Warriors last weekend.

That had prompted major concerns over whether the veteran of three previous Lions tours would be able to take part in a fourth in Australia this summer with the squad due to fly out in just two weeks.

Head coach Gatland admitted he was keeping his “fingers crossed” for positive news today though added O’Driscoll is expected to make a swift and complete recovery from what has been a repetitive problem in recent years.

The 34-year-old was given an injection for the pain and ordered to take complete rest for two days but could now even play in Friday’s Amlin Challenge Cup final, allaying fears over his participation with the Lions.

Gatland said: “Brian suffered a back spasm and the information we have is that he was given an epidural to take away the pain and told to stay off his feet for 48 hours.

“However, it is something he has had to deal with in the past and seems to flare up once a year at some stage. The usual procedure is for him to rest for 48 hours and then he is completely fine.

"The fact that he has had this before without any major problem means we are hopeful that he should be right for Leinster's final this weekend so, fingers crossed, he should be fine for the tour."

Not to report
O'Driscoll was the only member of the 37-man playing squad not to report to the Lions' temporary headquarters at Syon House in west London yesterday for a 'logistics' briefing that included the presentation of kit and formal wear.

Those players involved in domestic finals, such as those from Ulster and Leinster, have returned to their clubs and provinces today, with Gatland left holding his breath for what, he believes, is the inevitable.

He said: “We want players being involved in such big games and competing at the highest level while also hoping they don’t pick up injuries.

“It’s understandable players will have that in the back of their mind but often, if you go into games holding back, that can lead to injuries. Unfortunately the truth is that someone is probably going to be injured over the next few weeks.”

Those players involved in finals are unlikely to be involved in the opening game of the tour, against the Barbarians on June 1st, and Gatland admitted he would rather have an extra week preparing at home rather than fulfilling what some regard as an obligation to their major sponsors HSBC by playing en route in Hong Kong.

Whingeing
Gatland said: "The number of games is fine but ideally we would have two weeks back here to prepare, but we always knew that was the situation so we have to get on with it and not been seen by the Aussies as whingeing.

“Hopefully going forward, if we’re going to take the Lions seriously, we need to make sure there is enough preparation to make a fist of it.”

Leinster and Ulster's representatives may be at a disadvantage when they do finally report for duty with the Lions, having missed precious training sessions, though one player who would rather keep the engine ticking over on the pitch rather than in the garage is prop Cian Healy.

“I’ve seen the schedule for the rest of the lads and there’s a lot of fitness sessions so I’m happy to have two matches to play,” he quipped.

“I’m happy to carry on with games to keep up that physical edge, the tackles, heavy scrums and the breakdown. You can’t replicate games, certainly not finals, in training,” added Leinster’s Healy.

Healy revealed Ireland’s Lions contingent are desperate to hand another son of Clontarf, O’Driscoll, a winning send-off in what could yet prove to be his last season.

Healy said: “We want to make this memorable for Brian both on and off the pitch. It would be awesome to give him a winning send-off because he deserves it.”