Johnny Wattersontalks to Brian O'Driscoll ahead of Saturday's clash
No talk of must-win games yesterday. It was a sun-splashed afternoon in Dublin and one that bore little real ill will or malice to anyone, not even Scotland. This weekend Frank Hadden's team are a canvas against which Ireland, in the persons of 22 players, will continue to delineate a World Cup squad. This weekend is one for some large brushstrokes from Eddie O'Sullivan as well as some fine dabs, where winning or losing is not the sticking point at all, though the manner of it may well be.
Brian O'Driscoll is stepping in from the cold and while Ireland's impressionist outside centre, has remained high in reputation and profile, his contribution to Ireland's rugby cycle has been all too limited over the last year. His hopes for Saturday centre on dusting down his game following a long spring and summer, and on filling the 13 shirt the way he does best. That alongside him will be Gavin Duffy and the league convert Brian Carney may make the process a little less sure than if, say, Gordon D'Arcy and Shane Horgan were riding shotgun. But O'Driscoll should profit from the outing.
Still, he plays his first match for Ireland since March, when he aggravated a hamstring playing against Italy in Rome in the Six Nations. Five months out, rehabilitating, getting fit, taking holidays, doing what elite rugby players do to earn a crust - he has been far from idle. But, frustratingly, no part of his high-tempo schedule has been consumed by playing Test rugby.
"I didn't have to actually ask (to play against Scotland). But I would have put my name forward if I'd needed to," said the Ireland captain. "Eddie said he thought I could do with a game. It has been a long time since I've played, five months. I'd also been out before that for six months with a dislocated shoulder so Saturday can't come quickly enough for me."
Winning is far from being off the Irish agenda but there are a number of different motivations being carried to Murrayfield for the Irish players, motivations that may not all dovetail on the day. Clearly O'Driscoll and Paul O'Connell are there to progress their games; others are playing for seats on the plane to France. The view, though, is that good teamwork can frame individual performances better than maverick cameos that might catch the eye. Tommy Bowe, Carney, Duffy, Jamie Heaslip, Stephen Ferris, Alan Quinlan, Keith Gleeson and Eoin Reddan may all feel they are getting a final shot at France 2007.
While O'Driscoll's place is secure, he cannot be without trepidation.
"We've only been training with a rugby ball for close to a fortnight," he says. "So it is going to take quite a while for hand-eye co-ordination to start working, for people to read one another. The fact I missed the end of last season as well means I've a longer spell without that competitiveness . . . it takes time.
"Of course it will be different. You are not going to have continuity. With different personnel, things are just different. In a lot of cases guys are still uncertain if they are in the 30 for the World Cup, so for a lot it is the last opportunity to prove themselves and the best way to do that is as a team. That's what the focus will be."
This could be a defining World Cup for a player who has drawn more attention by his ability than any other of his generation and again he will be judged by higher standards. For now there is a mood of anticipation and hunger, even understated confidence, the sort Ireland brought with them to this year's Six Nations Championship.
"A lot about international rugby is taking the chance when you're given it," says O'Driscoll. "There is still a lot up for grabs. As captain my job is easy. You have to take it and shine on the day. That's what I will be telling the lads before the match."
