Australia 'should target' O'Driscoll

THE FORMER Wallabies outside centre and Leinster coach Gary Ella has suggested that Australia should target Brian O'Driscoll's defence.

While his rationale is largely based on the enforced changes which have left Ireland with a "disjointed" midfield, Ella pinpointed the break by New Zealand's Conrad Smith in the build-up to Sitiveni Sivivatu's first-half try against in the Westpac Stadium to support his view.

"When Conrad Smith beat Brian O'Driscoll it looked like O'Driscoll was waiting for the inside centre to get across because Smith had two guys on his outside," Ella told The Australian newspaper.

"Smith chucked a dummy and went through. I thought O'Driscoll would have picked him up, but he didn't.

"I wouldn't treat O'Driscoll any differently to anyone else in the Irish backline in defence. He is a good tackler, but he is not the world's greatest defender."

Whatever about O'Driscoll's culpability for the first try, when, typically, the Irish captain assumed the blame for what was in part a system failure, Ella's general view of O'Driscoll's ability as a defender will merely confirm for many their view of him as Leinster coach.

While something similar happened at Murrayfield in Leinster's Magners League defeat, what made Smith's break stand out was that you could count on the fingers of one hand the amount of times O'Driscoll has ever been beaten on the inside or outside.

"The Wallabies should attack Ireland in the midfield. Defensively, they were disjointed.

"They got exposed with Paddy Wallace. It's funny, when you talk about centre combinations they usually work well when they defend well together.

"I don't think Ireland will do that in a week."

While Ella rates the Irish pack and maintains Australia's advantage should be in their backs, he forecast that Ireland will look to attack under the Telstra Dome's closed roof.

"Ronan O'Gara is maligned a lot but is a very good footballer. He can shift the ball and he is very good with attacking kicks.

"The Wallabies will have to be very careful about what's behind them. The Irish have nothing to lose. They don't have any fears about playing Australia.

"They are not scared of playing Australia. The last time they played Australia they won. They will want to have a go."

Describing Michael Bradley as "an attacking coach" and forecasting that Ireland will look to get the ball into O'Driscoll's hands, Ella said he was looking forward to the contest between the Irish captain and his counterpart Stirling Mortlock because "in my opinion they have been the two best outside centres in the world for the last eight or nine years".

 Fitzgerald and Quinlan ruled out

ALAN QUINLAN and Luke Fitzgerald have both been ruled out of contention for selection for the Ireland team to play Australia this weekend.

Both players had been carrying thigh (Quinlan) and ankle (Fitzgerald) injuries and while they have responded well to their rehabilitation programmes, their projected recovery times mean that they will not be available to play against Australia.

Stephen Ferris has already been called into the squad as cover for Quinlan, but no replacement is being sought by the Ireland management for Fitzgerald.