O'Driscoll to face ultimate test of leadership qualities

Lions centre to captain Irish against world champions

Within hours of the Irish pulling off one famous coup over the Australians in Melbourne another was being plotted in the equally glorious setting of Greystones. In the seaside town, south of Dublin, Eddie O'Sullivan revealed who his captain is to face the world champions on Saturday and so enlightened was the decision that yesterday may just be a date for Ireland to remember and for Australia to forget.

Brian O'Driscoll, the Leinster centre, stepped into the huge breach left by Keith Wood's absence with a neck injury and in doing so silenced those who did not believe O'Sullivan had the courage to choose the quietly-spoken 23-year-old over the older, if not exactly wiser, back-rower Anthony Foley.

"He's up for this job," O'Sullivan said before coming out with the statistic that will make every Wallaby wobble. "And he is the only member of this squad who has been on a winning side against the Australians." Such has been the progress of the Leinster Lion in the year since that win with the British Isles tourists, that many here believe he can spearhead the first victory over Australia in more than 20 years. "This will not be too much for Brian," the Irish coach said. "He is a player who has had a lot of pressure and I don't see any reason why he cannot handle a bit more. Just like Keith Wood he is a player the others look up to."

O'Driscoll was not nearly as bullish, confessing that he had taken time to talk it over with his father. "There are always doubts. I'm only 23 and perhaps it would have been better to have the honour in the future. But it's too good an opportunity to turn down." He was quick to acknowledge that he would only be "filling in for Keith".

The hooker, who is replaced in the front row by Shane Byrne, is not expected to be fit until the international against Argentina at the end of the month, leaving O'Driscoll to run the show against Australia and Fiji. As ever, however, it is impossible to escape Wood's influence. "I have talked to him at length and will talk to him again later on in the week," O'Driscoll said. "He was very encouraging and had some words of advice and, of course, I took them on board."

Not that O'Driscoll will be the head-down-and-charge leader that Wood is. "I think the real role of the captain is to talk when needs be and not just for the sake of it. The side is full of senior players who can share the responsibility." Indeed, O'Driscoll is one the younger heads in a team that O'Sullivan has packed with power. Shane Horgan returns on the wing to add some much-needed muscle in a backline that hardly excelled in the recent World cup qualifiers. Joining him on the other wing will be his Leinster teammate Denis Hickey, providing he recovers from a wrist injury in the next 24 hours. Up front, Victor Costello is moved from No 8 to the blind-side where he will be flanked by the Australian-born openside Keith Gleeson.

Just what O'Driscoll and Co will face at Lansdowne Road, however, is anyone's guess. Injuries sustained in the brutal win over Argentina last weekend have forced the coach, Eddie Jones, to consider a shuffle of the Australian backline that may see Stephen Larkham play full-back for the first time since 1997. With Mat Rogers unlikely to recover from a rib cartilage injury and with Matt Burke suffering with a calf problem, Jones would have no option but to move Larkham and draft in Elton Flatley to fill the No 10's berth.

IRELAND (v Australia, Lansdowne Road on Saturday): G Dempsey (Terenure), S Horgan (Lansdowne), B O'Driscoll (Blackrock, capt), K Maggs (Bath), J Kelly (Munster), G Murphy (Leicester), D Hickie (Leinster), R O'Gara (Cork), P Stringer (Shannon); R Corrigan (Greystones), S Byrne (Blackrock), J Hayes (Shannon), G Longwell (Ballymena), M O'Kelly (St Mary's), V Costello (St Mary's), K Gleeson (St Mary's), A Foley (Shannon). Replacements: F Sheahan (Cork), P Wallace (Blackrock), L Cullen (Blackrock), A Quinlan (Shannon), G Easterby (Llanelli), D Humphreys (Dungannon).