Brian O'Driscoll
Brian O'Driscoll
NationalityIrish
ProfessionAthlete
Date of Birth21 January 1979
CountryIreland
I just want to concentrate on my rugby and enjoy it and live in the moment.
defeats definitely
As you get older, the defeats become more painful. They definitely hurt more.
athletes becoming english huge opposed pass players room throw weights whether
I'm not privy to the English set-up, but at the academies in Ireland, there is a huge focus on the weights room as opposed to whether they can throw a 10-metre pass on the run. They should be rugby players becoming athletes, not athletes becoming rugby players.
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.
bay fairly good
I'm fairly adventurous with my eating. I've tried kangaroo, and Moreton Bay bugs, which are a kind of lobster, are so good.
good home life model people plenty rest role sit sports though
If you can be a good role model for people, well, great. You try and live your sporting life and the rest of your life as well as you can, and if it's something that people admire, well, fantastic. I don't sit at home and think about it too much, though - there's plenty of other things in my life going on.
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.
few grasp last life sudden switch third
When you've done something for more than a third of your life, your whole adult life, and then all of a sudden you're going to have to switch off and say, 'No more,' you want to grasp as much of it and enjoy the last few years of it as much as you can. Because you can't get those years back.
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.
change last mean
Just because you lost your last game doesn't mean you change anything.
bad great lose pain playing share sports win
The great thing about playing team sport is you win and lose together, and the pain is never as bad when you share it.
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.
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.
stretching
A physical therapist does some unbelievable stretching with me.