British & Irish Lions
• What did the South Africans ever do for us?
Ireland Rugby
Leaving Home…
It’s become a talking point since Gatland’s arrival in the Welsh camp, that Wales have adopted an All-Blacks style approach to selection, where if you play your rugby outside the country you put your place in the national squad at risk (with Dwayne Peel and Michael Owen doing just that!).
But O’Driscoll says he won’t leave Ireland and probably not Leinster for that matter!
“I am sure playing for Toulouse or Biarritz would make it easier to win the Heineken Cup,” said O’Driscoll.
“But I like my life in Dublin and living in Ireland. I have a life outside rugby and that is important to me.
“I grew up playing for my province and play alongside guys I grew up with.
“I know it makes it more of a challenge to win the European Cup playing for Leinster but it would be more of an achievement.
“I just know it would mean more to me to win a big tournament like that with my home-town team.”
O’Driscoll has been cited as lacking ambition due to never playing for anyone other than the province, but he points the finger firmly towards his friend Jonny Wilkinson who is doing exactly the same at Newcastle Falcons.
Peel and Owen appear to have been excluded from the Wales selection rules, which is expected to be enforced from the start of next season.