Brian O'Driscoll
Brian O'Driscoll
NationalityIrish
ProfessionAthlete
Date of Birth21 January 1979
CountryIreland
retirement thinking months
If you start thinking about retirement in six months' time, you're already there.
sports team years
I love going out every day and training and being part of the team, and having friendships built up over a number of years. It's those aspects of sport that I feel are really important.
summer disappointment careers
Last summer was probably the biggest disappointment of my career, but now I have something bad with which to balance the good. I will no longer take anything for granted.
sweet good-day celebrate
You've to celebrate the good days because there are brutal days that make the good ones sweet.
games want lasts
It's 45 minutes after the game right now and I still don't want to take this jersey off. That's because I know that when I do it'll be for the last time...
learnt second takes
One thing I learnt early on my career is that personal gratification takes second place.
australia goes great highlight less lions might sound strange time tour won
The 2001 tour to Australia would have been a great highlight in my career if the Lions had won the series. That might sound strange because it was a great tour in many ways, but, for me, the more time goes by, the less of a career highlight it becomes, and just more of a frustration.
borrowing case gone jersey maximum played respect
I have always played into the belief that you are only ever borrowing the jersey; you never own the jersey because someone has gone before you and there is going to be someone after you, so it's a case of giving the jersey maximum respect.
carry eventually frighten life name pitch realise
Your name or what you've done on the rugby pitch is not going to carry you through for the rest of your life. I realise I'm going to have to eventually do something else, and that does frighten me a little bit.
facet lower muscles send
It's happened a couple of times in training when I hyper-extend my back. Some facet joints send all the muscles in my lower back and lumbar-spine into spasm.
case trying work
You never sit on your laurels. It is always a case of trying to work on your deficiencies as much as working on your strengths.
five life lucky managing settled took understand
For me, it took five years to understand what professionalism meant. But I'm more settled now. I'm married, life changes, and I've been lucky in managing my injuries.
defeats definitely
As you get older, the defeats become more painful. They definitely hurt more.
expression sums
Was I speared? I think so. Slam-dunked is probably the expression which sums it up best,