O'Driscoll plays down ton

Milestone clash is just another game, says Ireland skipper

By Rachel Griffiths   Last updated: 12th March 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

O'Driscoll plays down ton

O'Driscoll: Will win 100th cap

The time to think about these sort of things is when you're sitting on the coach during retirement.

Brian O'Driscoll
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Brian O'Driscoll insists he would rather focus on leading Ireland to victory over Wales in Saturday's RBS Six Nations showdown than winning his 100th cap.

The skipper, who will reach the special milestone at Croke Park this weekend, will be the 13th player to become a rugby centurion and Ireland's second after John Hayes passed the mark against England two weeks ago.

The 31-year-old, who will captain Ireland for the 63rd time on Saturday, has been showered with tributes all week, but refuses to be distracted by the latest landmark of his career.

Milestone

"I'm just looking forward to another game," said O'Driscoll.

"The time to think about these sort of things is when you're sitting on the coach during retirement.

"It's nice getting lots of text messages coming in from past players and past legends and friends of the game.

"That's lovely and makes it a bit different to other Test matches but I don't see any reason to get caught up in the hype of it all."

O'Driscoll, the world's top try-scoring centre with 38, is second in length of service as a captain only to John Smit of South Africa by five matches.

"I didn't set the target in 1999 that I wanted to play 100 Test matches," added O'Driscoll.

"I suppose a few years ago it would be nice to reach 100. I'm not looking at 120 caps either - I'm just taking it game by game."

Celebration

Defeating Wales would be a fitting celebration of O'Driscoll's milestone, and would keep Ireland in contention for the Six Nations title and the Triple Crown.

The latter seems a more likely goal, with Wales and Scotland to come in Dublin, and O'Driscoll is confident his side can see off the remaining home nations.

"There's still a lot of work to do to pick up the Triple Crown but we strive for silverware every year and there's still something attainable," he added.

"That's a common goal of the squad."