Brian O'driscoll. Marcus Stead

a squad night out to say farewell to a number of players who were moving on. Victor Costello was retiring, while David Holwell was returning to New Zealand. Meanwhile, Shane Jennings and Leo Cullen were moving to Leicester. The original plan was to meet in Kiely’s in Donnybrook, but following the tragedy nobody was in the mood for celebrating. Instead, they had a few quiet pints before agreeing to meet up again under happier circumstances.

      The rest of the week was a rare lull in Brian’s hectic schedule. It was very much the case of being the calm before the storm. He kept his body in shape but didn’t over-train; instead, he used the week to tie up some loose ends.

      He took some time out to read the sack loads of good-luck cards and letters he had received, which included a letter wishing him well from Taoiseach Bertie Ahern. Other notable well-wishers included former Lions captain Ronnie Dawson, which Brian greatly appreciated.

      The squad were going to get together at the familiar surroundings of the Vale of Glamorgan hotel in the days before the flight to New Zealand, and the time had come for Brian to say goodbye to friends and family. It wasn’t so much a case of saying ‘goodbye’ to those closest to him – most of them would be taking a trip out to New Zealand to watch him play at some point – but it certainly was a case of saying goodbye to his home, to his familiar surroundings and to Dublin, a place he would not see again for another two months. From now on, he would be living out of a suitcase.

      Brian checked into the hotel early on the Monday morning, before making the two-hour trip to London for a TAG photoshoot, then back to Cardiff for another shoot with Gillette and then back to the Vale for some more snaps for Adidas. The hectic schedule of that first day away from home helped Brian forget the nervous feelings he had been experiencing for the last few days. That evening, he bumped into Jonny – who was looking in trim shape and ready for battle to commence – in the hotel lobby.

      The following day was far more boring, with most of it spent on administrative matters such as filling in insurance forms and autographing piles of memorabilia. During the course of the day, most of the rest of the squad arrived at the hotel and checked in. The one notable exception was Iain Balshaw who was forced to withdraw from the tour with a quadricep injury.

      Brian felt a great deal of sympathy for Iain’s predicament and it served as a firm reminder to him and the rest of the squad that they were all just one bad tackle away from being out of the tour themselves. An in-form Mark Cueto took Iain’s place in the squad, which came as some consolation to Brian who had seen the rich try-scoring form he had been in for Sale during the season.

      It so happened that the Manchester United team were staying in the same hotel that week as they were playing in the FA Cup final at the Millennium Stadium that weekend. This allowed Brian an opportunity to talk properly to one of his all-time heroes, their captain Roy Keane.

      Known for his no-nonsense captaincy and blunt way of getting his point across, Roy had some firm advice for Brian. He told him to be his own man, to look after himself and make sure he was on top of his game. Brian was already doing exactly this, but hearing it from someone who had been there, done that and got the T-shirt, as well as being a fellow Irishman, certainly meant a lot. The principles of captaincy in both sports are much the same and this chat went a long way towards boosting Brian’s confidence in his own ability.

      On the Saturday, the whole Lions squad headed to the Millennium Stadium to watch Manchester United play Arsenal. As a massive United fan, this was a dream come true for Brian who had not had the time to watch his beloved team play for 18 months. He had also never been to an FA Cup final before, so this was a big day for him, and a chance to take his mind off the upcoming tour for a while.

      The whole squad had VIP tickets but Brian insisted on turning up in United colours and certainly wore his heart on his sleeve during the game.

      The match went to penalties following a goalless, but entertaining 90 minutes. Arsenal ultimately won the shoot-out, which left Brian in a grumpy mood as he had to endure a great deal of taunting from Llanelli coach Gareth Jenkins, a fanatical Gooner. Nevertheless, Brian enjoyed the opportunity to switch off and let others do the hard work for a change.

      After dinner that evening, Brian and the others not taking part in the warm-up game against Argentina on the Monday were given permission by Clive to go into Cardiff for a night out. It would be their last opportunity to have a proper drink for at least the next two weeks.

      They headed off into town in their Range Rover, complete with minders who had previously served in the SAS. They had got a few miles down the road when their vehicle suddenly ground to a halt. The minders leaped out instantly to protect the players from any kind of sabotage, though there was nothing to worry about.

      After using their military experience to identify the problem, the SAS veterans discovered that the problem was, rather embarrassingly, that they had run out of petrol! Another standby vehicle was provided and they were soon on their way again.

      Cardiff was still buzzing from Wales’s spectacular Grand Slam victory and Brian and the lads enjoyed mixing with the Welsh public in the clubs and bars that evening. Inevitably, as the evening wore on and the drink began to set in, a small number of people approached Brian and the others looking for a fight. Fortunately, the minders were never too far away and there were times during the evening when their presence was greatly appreciated.