Brian O'Driscoll
Brian O'Driscoll
NationalityIrish
ProfessionAthlete
Date of Birth21 January 1979
CountryIreland
adjusting fixed life next period player rugby
I've got my head fixed on the next part of life. I know there will be an adjusting period of just not being a rugby player for a while, and over that period I'll get my head around what the next challenge involves.
challenged definitely focused life lots positively react tests three
Everyone has tests in their life. They come in lots of different forms. I had two or three together, which definitely challenged me as a person and as a sportsman. The big thing is how you react to those situations. You want to come out positively at the other end, and that's what I focused on doing.
best life people perspective
You have perspective when little people come into your life. You take the best things you have and let them overshadow your disappointment.
life
I've been a professional rugby player all my life; I don't really know anything different.
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.
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.
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.
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.
came coming goods great performance pressure produced shock
It was a performance that had been coming for a while and it does not shock me all that much. When the pressure came on we produced the goods and we can take great satisfaction from that.
beauty camp characters guys lions players teams
You go into the Lions camp with preconceived ideas about players and teams and then find guys are actually very different, and the beauty of the Lions is that all those characters are moulded into it. I find that exciting.
lose point remember
There is no point winning the semi if you don't win the final. It's as simple as that. No one will remember a big semifinal if you lose the final, so you have to do it all again.
bit launching
There have been a couple of things I've been involved in launching that have been a bit more public, but I've always had other things tipping away in the background.
answer believe inclined maybe players rather totally
In a team situation, I think the players are more inclined to give the answer they believe the psychologist is looking for rather than maybe being totally honest.
adjustment motor period repetition stop time work
If you stop doing a skill you've done for years for any period of time, there's an adjustment period to get it back. In anything you do. Motor skills won't work as fast, because repetition is everything.