O'Driscoll is a reluctant star

Lions hero Brian O'Driscoll will be keeping his feet firmly on Australian soil despite his virtuoso efforts in the first Test.

The 22-year-old son of a Dublin doctor ripped the Wallabies apart with his scything runs, scoring one try and creating another for Dafydd James before producing some crunching defence to consolidate the Lions' hard-won gains. O'Driscoll has come a long way in a short time but the quietly-spoken Leinster man is certain to remain unfazed by his continued rise to fame.

'I don't see any reason to change,' he said. 'I don't think there's an awful lot to it. You just go along with your everyday life.

'I try not to read a lot of it about myself, although I enjoy reading about others. You know if you've had a poor game and if you've missed a try-saving tackle the next day you don't pick up a newspaper and read all about it.

'The only pressure I'm concerned about is the pressure I put on myself and the expectation of what the coach perceives my ability brings to the team. 'Those really are the only two things I'm worried about.' The Blackrock College man has clearly inherited his talent from his father, Frank, who toured Argentina with Ireland in 1970.

Brian won his first cap at Ballymore in Brisbane on Ireland's Australian tour two years ago. He has scored 48 points at senior level for Ireland, including a memorable hat-trick against France in Paris last year.