Brian of course long overstayed his time with ireland and played on reputation for a number of years. Can his judgement be trusted?
Ex Planet rugby.
Brian O'Driscoll has backed Dan Carter as the man to claim the ten jersey for New Zealand next year if they are to retain the World Cup.(Well very little chance of that with or without Carter)
The all-time record points scorer in international rugby has had a tough 18 months with a string of injuries keeping him sidelined for much of this year. (He is a very fragile player a lot worse that Goosen who appears to have become fairly robust)
In his absence Beau(den) Barrett and Aaron the Crude (n) have stepped up, with both producing some impressive displays. (Some nice footwork but both lack authority!)
That has led to questions about whether Carter deserves to start when fully-fit, however O'Driscoll, who retired in 2014, believes that Carter should remain at the top of pecking order for New Zealand until the 2015 World Cup.
"Aaron Cruden and Beauden Barrett have both been decent, but Dan Carter takes it on to a different level and he kicks his goals better than both of them," O'Driscoll said.( I think poor Brian is stuck in a Moz like time warp! hahahahahahhahaha)
"If he's got the scoreboard ticking over, then I just can't see them being beaten." (Well not perhaps by Ireland Brian although you could actually win as the last time you paleyed them proved) but always remember the really powerful sides liek the Boks and England)
While he believes Carter will be key to New Zealand's hopes of retaining their crown, O'Driscoll also feels that the extra skills learned as youngsters serve the All Blacks well compared with countries with a greater gym focus.
"They've got high, high skill levels," O'Driscoll said of the All Blacks. (You need some skills to play netball rugby to be sure brian but I regret to say you also need gym work lest you field a pack as pap as the wee absBwahhahahahahahahaha)
"The Polynesian element that they have playing for them, the [Julian] Saveas of the world, are pretty strong without going to the gym. (Yes Julian is an exception but Brian you need to foucus mainly on the pack and its lack of grunt. Then again the backs like Conrad, Ben smith, Carol jane, Crude, barret and Dagg hardly inspire much confidence on the physical stakes. The WEE abs have alot to put right as I am anticipating RAWS could be in short supply for them come this RWC. There could in all likelihood be a backlash against them given what happened at the last RWC.)
"I don't think the gym-monkey thing applies to them as much as it does over here. There is way more of a focus in New Zealand from an early age on skills.
"They do everything with a ball. They do all their fitness work with a ball and that's why they have better skill levels.
"That's where New Zealand have the balance. They have that physicality (Hahahhahahahahaha), but they are able to mix their game up.
"They play a different brand of rugby to anyone else and they play a really clever game (Criminally cle ver). Any time they lose their shape, they get it back quicker than anyone else.
"They've got this pod structure of second row and front row playing off 9 and 10, and if it breaks down, they seamlessly get back into a pattern."
But for RAWs the wee abs would have lost 4 more tests this year)5 intotal). Which is about the size of things year by year. All the NH needs to do is cut out the RAWs) Ping old man mcaaaw for instance - that should be easy enough for any competent ref.
Just hope Meyer gets his act together.
