Brian O'Driscoll's future whereabouts after his IRFU contract expires at the end of this season is likely to remain undecided for a month or so, with the centre admitting yesterday that the union do have stiff competition from English and perhaps French clubs.

"I have been speaking to the IRFU. (As for) France, I hear more in the media than I do myself. I'm talking to different clubs and like they're doing to me, we're respecting each other's privacy and a decision will be made in the coming months," said the Parisian triple try-scorer.

Understandably, O'Driscoll was non-committal in giving any clues as to where he might be playing next season, although the timespan of months rather than weeks was a little surprising. "Potentially (months), I don't know. Maybe in the next month, I can't put a time limit on it." Nor has he any reason to be in a rush about things, given his future employment prospects look reasonably secure.

The Irish management and the Irish captain Keith Wood have echoed the popularly held theory that O'Driscoll would be better advised to stay put for the time being. Irish rugby would generally be less taxing over the duration of a season, given it would entail less matches all told and less matches of high intensity.

Accordingly, with half a dozen or so European Cup matches and the same number of internationals to showcase his talents, remaining in Ireland would probably help rather than hinder his strong Lions' selection prospects, on top of which the 21-year-old centre has been a tad injury prone.

Nonetheless, significantly or not, O'Driscoll wasn't exactly going out of his way yesterday to rush in with this theory. "I don't know from a personal standpoint what the English game is like and how tough it is, so it would be difficult to answer that. But I suppose there might be a bit more leniency towards missing a game or two here if necessary or if injury was a problem. Like I said, it would be difficult for me to answer that."

O'Driscoll was speaking at a celebratory luncheon in his honour, hosted by his personal boot and kit sponsors, Reebok, which was held, appropriately enough in the week where his memorable exploits took the strut out of the cockerel, at Le Coq Hardi restaurant in Dublin.

At the lunch he was presented with a framed, three-photo montage of his day in Stade de France, so completing what has, by his own weary admission, been a "hectic" week. "I'm absolutely knackered," he said. "I haven't even had a chance to speak to my dad. I kind of see him when he's going off to bed when I'm coming in at night. I'm looking forward to just having a decent chat and getting a bit of time to myself."

Essentially a shy individual, the thought of another day in the media spotlight wouldn't have had him jumping out of bed thinking "yippee, more interviews". Amid being honoured by his club, spots on radio and television, and being chased by a swarm of kids when attending the Leinster Junior Schools' Cup final on Wednesday, his week has had it's more private, relaxing moments, one of which drew a broad smile at the memory. "After the Junior Cup final on Wednesday I went out with a few of the lads from Rock and had a serious unwinding session."

Nonetheless, O'Driscoll guards his privacy jealously and clearly resented invasions of such this week. His much-discussed celebratory gesture after each of his first two tries was merely fulfilling a prematch agreement with some of his friends, and the thumb to thumb, forefinger to forefinger salute had no real meaning in itself.

Probings as to the make-up and nature of his friends were met with polite but curt responses, while the publicised claim that the signal was for his girlfriend clearly irritated him.

"Surreal to say the least. I don't know where that stuff comes from. It actually makes me laugh. I wouldn't say it's particularly enjoyable for all parties involved but it kind of makes it seem a little bit unreal, everything that's going on."

He seems fairly level-headed as well and although yesterday merely added to it, O'Driscoll expects, and assuredly hopes, that all the furore over him will subside. "I'm sure it will all die down. It's like during Wimbledon everybody is out playing tennis on the streets. During the Tour de France they're all out cycling on their bikes so it's just the rugby season now and once it stops it will all quieten down."

The past week, and even the match, must all seem a bit of a blur still, but he does cling to the memory of going over to the Irish supporters at the end of the match. "Just remembering how incredible that was, it really was something to hold on to and memories to cherish. It's still strange to look back and think how much noise they were making. Silencing that many people in Stade de France was pretty incredible. So to pick out one moment it would be that."