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BBC Sport Online columnist Brian O'Driscoll gets ready for what will be a daunting international season for Ireland.

What a season ahead! But quite honestly I just cannot wait to get started, beginning with Romania on Saturday.

With 14 internationals on the itinerary at present, it is going to be a long, hard road.

Obviously it will take its toll with injuries here and there, but every new season has a new challenge.

It is not every year you get to travel to Russia, so you have to take these experiences on board and look forward to them.

Then there are the three autumn Tests against Austraia, Fiji and Argentina which will be hard.

However, we are not counting our chickens as we have a little bit of World Cup qualifying to do before those games.

Preparation for the new season started as soon as we came back from our holiday in July with two weeks in Poland.

The training camp at Spala was something else. Even though we were stuck in the middle of a forest, and quite a way from the real world, it was an incredible experience.

I suppose it's a new era for Irish rugby with no Peter Clohessy and Mick Galwey

Brian O'Driscoll

It was the most intensive training I have ever witnessed. There was this cyrotherapy where you go into what is basically a freezer box.

It has this effect of speeding up recovery immediately after training sessions, which allows you to train more often and harder.

It definitely does work as we were able to train between six and seven hours a day. Otherwise it would be impossible to train for so long at the level of consistency we are aiming for.

Plus the fact that we did it for two weeks solid I, for one, was very tired when we arrived home.

It took us all about eight to 10 days to get over that experience before a week-long camp in Limerick where most of the boys finally got down to the playing side of things.

I had to sit that out as I had a niggly ankle injury which needed taking care of.

In a way it did give me extra time to recover, and a blessing in disguise, but it sure fed my appetite to get back playing again.

Now after one game for Leinster which I really enjoyed, it seems strange that it is the second week of the new season and you're ready to play a full international.

I suppose it is a new era for Irish rugby with no Peter Clohessy and Mick Galwey.

But you have to look on and upwards and it is a great opportunity for people like Reggie Corrigan who has rejuvenated his international career.

Former Ireland international forward Mick Galwey
Mick Galwey has retired from international rugby

It is great to have Maggsey (Kevin Maggs) back as my partner in midfield for Saturday's game.

I reckon that he is an extremely under-rated player and really enjoy playing alongside him in the centre. When he is on top of his game he is a delight to play with.

He is very strong, and in recent seasons he has become more confident in his own ability.

Romania are going to be a very physical side. They will attempt to spoil, but it is up to us to beat these teams.

They will be looking for a big scalp, so we have to be very careful. Our focus is to play well ourselves and let the result take care of itself.

It will be very strange playing an international at Thomond Park. Believe or not, I have only played there once before.

I am looking forward to it, and the atmosphere is going to be absolutely fantastic.

It is nice playing in a smaller stadium when it is packed out and the atmosphere starts boiling over.

Hopefully that will all help in putting in a good performance.


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