The Leinster centre told the Rugby Club he is relaxed and all set for Saturday's semi-final with Munster.
Croke Park clash will be incredible sporting occasion
Ireland skipper Brian O'Driscoll goes head-to-head with Lions captain Paul O'Connell this weekend in a massive Heineken Cup semi-final showdown - and he told
Rugby Club that he cannot wait.
O'Driscoll's Leinster face a fierce battle when they take on rival province and defending champions Munster at Croke Park, eager to avenge their 30-6 semi-final defeat in the same competition in 2006.
The weight of expectation is huge but the 30-year-old insists he is ready for the challenge of driving his team towards their first Heineken Cup final.
"I've played in front of 82,000 very partisan Irish supporters in an international but I can't imagine what it will be like playing in a club side," he said.
"It was the same with 2006; it seemed as though it was a Munster home game and I'd expect them to have the lions share of support there but I don't think it will affect us this time; we will be ready for it and it will just be an incredible sporting occasion.
"I believe it is going to be the biggest club game in world history so it will be nice to be part of. I know I won't be as stressed as I was for the semi-final in 2006 - that was probably the most nervous I have been for any game; it was horrible and I didn't enjoy it.
"I'm way more relaxed this week and treating it as another big, tough European game against undoubtedly the best team in Europe at the moment."
Hungry
Few will forget O'Driscoll's brief appearance on the 2005 Lions tour, when New Zealand's Tana Umaga and Keven Mealmau combined to inflict a shoulder injury that ended his captaincy of the side just minutes into the first Test.
The centre admits he wanted another chance to lead the Lions in South Africa this summer but coach Ian McGeechan went with O'Connell instead, making O'Driscoll vice-captain.
"Until I got the phone call from Geech I still harboured small hopes (of becoming captain), of course, I did and I guess I was glad I was disappointed when I heard I hadn't got it because I still felt as though I was a little bit alive and still hungry and all of those things that you want as a rugby player and a previous Lions captain," he said.
"I think that if I was settling for being a squad member I think I would have lost something; I was delighted for Paul, he's very deserving of it; he's captained Munster to a European Cup, he's captained Ireland in the past, he's lead by example. He's as good a captain for Ireland as myself or all the guys."
Changed
Last year some feared O'Driscoll's playing days might be numbered as a series of injuries left him struggling for consistency but his competitive nature remains as strong as ever.
"I feel sharp," he said. "I'm a very different player from the guy who got his first Test in '99. My body shape has changed; things are more difficult for you when you become more of a marked man and you have to vary your game.
"I probably don't have the athleticism of a 22-year-old - that's not to say I'm a carthorse - but I feel as though I have variety in my game. The big thing that I got this year came from a sports psychologist: one of the best pieces advice I ever got was 'practice the things you are good at'. People always practice the things they are poor at!
"There were times at the start of the season when I was just in bad form; my confidence was low; you just have to get out of the rut and look at the good things you can do and are good at. Sometimes you need to replay old footage of you doing good things and remind yourself that you haven't lost those things overnight."
