Brian O'Driscoll was quick in tweeting his support of the appointment of Andy Farrell as the new Irish defence coach, and the former Irish captain gave further reason for optimism on Off The Ball tonight.
O'Driscoll praised Farrell as a man of good conviction, an attribute which will be helpful to Joe Schmidt:
Farrell is a strong individual with strong beliefs, which will be a real an asset to Joe. It's not safe by Joe, which I really like.
The legendary Irish centre worked with Farrell on the 2013 Lions Tour, and recalled being impressed by Farrell's methods:
It's just the manner in which he gets it across and the excitement that he generates from defence.
I just thought he brought a great energy to his sessions and when we were in meetings and going through analysis, you wanted to go out and defend for him.
O'Driscoll also touted Conor Murray as a potential Irish captain in the future:
He's going to become a huge element in the Irish set-up as well. People haven't really touted him as a potential captain. He's a quiet enough guy but everyone respects him, and that's the most important thing about leadership. Maybe if he starts building on his vocals a bit more, and what he does off the pitch, he is another potential Irish captain.
We've seen Rory Best and Peter O'Mahoney discussed as potential captains recently, so to see O'Driscoll championing Murray is interesting, albeit for the future rather than the immediate situation.
You can listen to the entire chat on the Newstalk website, here.
