Brian O'Driscoll yesterday ended speculation over his future by agreeing a one-year contract extension with Ireland and Leinster, although he will miss tonight's final against Stade Francais.
O'Driscoll was expected to conclude his 14-season professional career after the forthcoming British and Irish Lions tour to Australia, but has instead chosen to re-sign with the Irish Rugby Union until the end of June 2014. The 34-year-old stated throughout the RBS 6 Nations that he had not made a decision, with his fitness and family commitments having the ultimate say, but the scenes at what was potentially his final match at the Aviva Stadium against France on March 9 suggested the end was close.
"I want to thank the IRFU and Leinster for allowing me the time to think about my future and discuss my options with my family," O'Driscoll said. "The support my family and the Irish and Leinster fans have shown me over the past few months, and indeed years, has been phenomenal and I'm now very much looking forward to one more year playing with Ireland and Leinster."
O'Driscoll is out of tonight's game because of a back spasm, but the problem is not expected to prevent him from touring with the Lions. He has often stated that the condition of his body would help determine his future, having sat out Ireland's 2012 autumn campaign due to ankle surgery, while shoulder and hamstring problems have troubled him in the past. Also shaping his decision were the wishes of his family after wife Amy gave birth to their first child Sadie in February.
The recent appointment of Joe Schmidt to succeed Declan Kidney as Ireland's new head coach has contributed to his willingness to play on for a further year. Schmidt, who has worked closely with O'Driscoll at Leinster, welcomed the centre's decision. "It's great that Brian has agreed to continue playing. He's an inspirational player, not only on the pitch, but also on the training ground," Schmidt said. "He's played well again this season and other players continue to learn from him."
Isaac Boss does not expect Stade Francais to show any fear in Dublin tonight although he and his Leinster team-mates start as firm favourites for further European success following Heineken Cup triumphs in three of the past four seasons.
Leinster's Heineken pool stage exit – they were beaten home and away by Clermont – meant they entered the Amlin knockout phase as one of three group runners-up, before victories over Wasps and Biarritz secured a final place on home soil.
Stade, meanwhile, knocked out Bath and Perpignan away from home, which is why scrum-half Boss knows Leinster cannot afford to be complacent. "They have a very strong team," he said. "They haven't done as well in the league, as they should, but I think they have got a real focus on this Amlin tournament. They have won twice away from home so they are definitely not scared of coming here. It's going to be a lot tougher than Biarritz were."
Despite O'Driscoll's absence – Fergus McFadden and Ian Madigan will form their midfield partnership – Leinster will feature four of their six British and Irish Lions for this summer's Australia tour. The full-back Rob Kearney, fly-half Jonathan Sexton, flanker Sean O'Brien and No.8 Jamie Heaslip all start, while prop Cian Healy is on the bench.
The game is also the last European occasion as Leinster chief for new Ireland coach Schmidt, with his final game being next weekend's RaboDirect PRO12 play-off final against Ulster.
Teams. Leinster v Stade Francais (RDS Showground, Dublin, tonight, 8pm)
Leinster R Kearney; A Conway, F McFadden, I Madigan, I Nacewa; J Sexton, I Boss; J McGrath, S Cronin, M Ross, Q Roux, D Toner, R Ruddock, S O'Brien, J Heaslip (capt)
Subs: R Strauss, C Healy, J Hagan, L Cullen, S Jennings, J Cooney, A Goodman, D Kearney.
Stade Francais J Porical; J Sinzelle, G Doumayrou, P Williams, H Bonneval; J Plisson, J Dupuy; A De Malmanche, L Sempere, R Slimani, S Lavalla, G Mostert, D Lyons, P Rabadan, S Parisse (capt)
Subs: R Bonfils, S Wright, J Becasseau, A van Zyl, L Tomiki, W Nayacalevu, J Arias, P Warwick
Referee N Owens (Wales)
Assistant referees L Hodges & I Davies (Wales)
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article