O'Driscoll Dissects Some Myths

BOD wrote:"It was always a tackle. In the France game when I got three tries I hit Philippe Bernat-Salles and turned the ball over. Now the last try is a good try, a good pick-up. But I was only a young lad of 20, and I got a real thrill from that hit. He had grey hair! And I really, really hit him flush. He crumbled. And spilled the ball. I got a serious kick from that.

BOD wrote:If I run aggressively and Jamie Roberts runs aggressively, there's a good chance he's going to win that collision. I'm a realist with that.

But you can get your own little kick out of that. Because you have to start thinking that little bit better. Catching guys off guard. Seeing things a fraction earlier, so you can get the edge. In the Lions tour of '09, I knew that Danie Roussow hadn't seen me. That's why I shot out of the line fast, because I could catch him blind. I thought I could catch Brodie Retallick blind in the All Blacks game last year. But he saw me, and I got concussed. If I was there half a second earlier I would have dominated that collision, but he saw me, and gave a little dip.

BOD wrote:"We like beating England at anything. We beat England at cricket a few years ago. I didn't even know we played cricket until we beat England.

GunsGerms wrote:Recently retired players are too biased to make good pundits. Drico is generally an interesting enough guy to listen to but dont expect him to be overly critical of anyone any time soon.

Poorfour wrote:

GunsGerms wrote:Recently retired players are too biased to make good pundits. Drico is generally an interesting enough guy to listen to but dont expect him to be overly critical of anyone any time soon.

Not sure I agree with that - he's respectful and not going to go out to insult people on purpose, but his understanding of the game is such that he will spot the flaws in what teams are doing and point them out. Ben Kay's a great example of someone who's made a rapid transition to being a very effective pundit and he comes across as unbiased because he explain what he's seen without making unnecessary judgments. But he is actually quite critical of all sorts of things - including the IRB and referees - without being offensive. BOD is in a very similar mold.

IronMike wrote:I like Jiffy's analysis even if people don't like him or his voice, hes usually correct in where Wales are weak.

That said, he annoyed me when Phil Davies (his Brother in law) was in charge of the Blues, because he would never criticise him, his tactics or his selection policy, instead the players caught all the flack.

TobyBryant wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/29837289

Odd timing of this story on the bbc featured sporting stories today.

Can anyone tell me why?

Amongst other things the great man is forced to answer questions on how he never managed to beat NZ, win a World Cup and whether or not he is still angry at Tana Umaga, oh and whether or not the Irish team were good mates. Is this a Back handed hatchet job? Or is there a subtext I am missing?

George Carlin wrote:Drico is an entertaining pundit with ease in front of the camera.

All he needs to do now is not look bored when someone else is talking or when forwards are talking about mauls.

True.