Brian O'Driscoll
Brian O'Driscoll
NationalityIrish
ProfessionAthlete
Date of Birth21 January 1979
CountryIreland
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.
amount best decide huge teams understand
There is still a big onus to be coached. I understand the best teams don't need a huge amount of coaching, but that's when a coach should decide not to do coaching.
attached generic link message people process rather teams
I don't care that people thought I was one way for my whole career because now that I am not attached to a team, I can have my own opinion, I can have my own voice. I can link myself to my own thought process rather than a generic message most teams try to get across.
across few nearly sports team time work
I had come across a few sports psychologists, and I had no time for nearly all of them. I just don't think they work in a team environment.
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.
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.