Dewey has made a bright start to his Scotland career

"They are two brilliant players and Ireland have been playing well," said the 23-year-old Edinburgh star.

"Those two players provide the sparks for the rest of the team.

"They are great at winning ball on the deck, they run great lines, and moments of genius from either one of those two can win games for their team."

With three tries from his four international appearances, Dewey has quickly established himself as a potent attacking threat.

But he knows the defensive side of his game will be put to the test at the weekend.

"We've all seen O'Driscoll nip through the smallest of gaps and then offload the ball, and those kinds of things change games," he said.

"His offloading out of contact is second to none. He knows where his team-mates are going to be, and can flick the ball anywhere.

"It's just brilliant to watch, and those kinds of things, as a centre, you are trying to aspire to all the time.

"I love the way he plays rugby. He's so quick at getting up and over the tackled man to steal ball, and that's brilliant to see - it's something I've been working on myself."

Despite his admiration for Saturday's opponents, Dewey can take confidence from scoring Edinburgh's only try when they defeated Leinster in the Heineken Cup in October.

O'Driscoll and D'Arcy played that day and Dewey added: "It was a good win for the boys, so hopefully I can put in another good performance against them this weekend, if selected.

"Ireland is a massive challenge for us. They put in a great performance in their last match against England at Croke Park, while we lost against Italy.

"But we've highlighted a few key areas we've got to work on this week, and hopefully that will pay dividends."