Brian O'Driscoll on Ireland
Ireland outside centre, 133 caps, 1999-2024
Getty Images
- Michael Potts
There’s such high expectation for Ireland at the moment, but we’ve known for a year that Andy Farrell is going to be the Lions’ coach. Simon Easterby is taking over, while Andy watches from afar. It’s a new challenge for the team to see whether they’re excessively reliant on the head coach’s voice.
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Ireland are probably favourites on the basis of meeting France and England at home. There’s nothing between Ireland, France and England as teams, in truth. It’s a very well balanced Six Nations. Everything revolves around what happens in the first weekend.
Sam Prendergast of Ireland during the Autumn Nations Series. Getty
Our attack hasn’t quite been firing, certainly on the most recent evidence, so there’s a bit of work to do there. We’ve been searching to see who the replacement for Johnny Sexton at fly-half is going to be. All of a sudden, Sam Prendergast has catapulted himself forward. He will have a big impact.
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I have a feeling there might not be a slam this year. Ireland will be right in the mix: I think it’s a coin toss between France and Ireland.
IN A WORD: “Hopeful”
Authors
Michael PottsSport Editor
Michael Potts is the Sport Editor for Radio Times, covering all of the biggest sporting events across the globe with previews, features, interviews and more. He has worked for Radio Times since 2019 and previously worked on the sport desk at Express.co.uk after starting his career writing features for What Culture. He achieved a first-class degree in Sports Journalism in 2014.
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