O'Driscoll shows realism in assessing prospects

Brian O'Driscoll is relaxed, affable and patient, ensconced on the second floor of a Dublin hotel. Fulfilling a sponsorship commitment to Reebok, he endures a 90minute round of interviews as the media descend en masse, tantalised by a word with one of Irish rugby's brightest stars.

Conversation is dominated by tonight's European Cup game in which Leinster take on Edinburgh Reivers at Donnybrook. O'Driscoll is cautiously optimistic: "We probably should have won the first match," a reference to Leinster's 29-21 defeat at Myreside in the first pool game. "We started slowly, came back to within two points and then conceded a poor try.

"They're a fairly handy side, the only one to have beaten us in the competition and so we are obviously aware of the threat for this game. I don't think we played particularly well the last time; we made some poor decisions but have changed the game plan since then and hopefully things will go better this time.

"We're certainly not thinking about anything other than trying to win this match. If we don't then we'll have to go to Biarritz needing to win. They (Edinburgh) play a kind of Super 12 New Zealand team style, playing from side to side. I'm expecting a tiring game. There's a good buzz in the squad and we would look to get the crowd going."

The Blackrock centre, who celebrates his 22nd birthday in a fortnight, admits he is far from calculating on the pitch, operating a split-second thought process and looking to react to circumstances rather than having a colour-by-numbers approach. Having enjoyed his time with the Barbarians, he admitted that he learnt several small things from playing with players like Christian Cullen, Matt Burke, Daniel Herbert and his idol, Carlos Spencer, that will make him a better player.

Conversation temporarily drifts to a more general plain - he names Kilkenny's DJ Carey as his favourite sportsman, citing the hurler's phenomenal ability to function at the highest level under the extreme pressure - before returning to tonight's game.

He concedes that his team's defence will be a key factor in the match. "Yeh, that's an area in which we will have to be very good, it'll be a big test. They use a lot of runners on the inside and can be difficult to track. We'll see how far we have come, how well our defence has improved."