Brian O'Driscoll

“You never sit on your laurels. It is always a case of trying to work on your deficiencies as much as working on your strengths.”

“If you can beat New Zealand, then you're probably going to win the World Cup.”

“My missus knows to leave me alone.”

“Until you win a series, it's difficult to place yourself in that elite group of great Lions players. It's not enough to produce one-off performances or be nearly-men.”

“There is still a big onus to be coached. I understand the best teams don't need a huge amount of coaching, but that's when a coach should decide not to do coaching.”

“I'm an eternal optimist.”

“I found in the past when I did a bit of punditry, I was very conscious of not saying anything negative about people I played against, because players are elephants and they remember when someone says something - I stored things for years and just waited for my opportunity.”

“If you stop doing a skill you've done for years for any period of time, there's an adjustment period to get it back. In anything you do. Motor skills won't work as fast, because repetition is everything.”

“Before there was any chance to go to England, I changed schools, and it was rugby from there on in.”

“Growing up, I supported Manchester United, and my hero was Mark Hughes.”

“I've got my head fixed on the next part of life. I know there will be an adjusting period of just not being a rugby player for a while, and over that period I'll get my head around what the next challenge involves.”

“I've been a professional rugby player all my life; I don't really know anything different.”

“You've to celebrate the good days because there are brutal days that make the good ones sweet.”

“For me, it took five years to understand what professionalism meant. But I'm more settled now. I'm married, life changes, and I've been lucky in managing my injuries.”

“Aaron Cruden and Beauden Barrett have both been decent, but Dan Carter takes it on to a different level, and he kicks his goals better than both of them.”

“I was quite small as a kid and maybe a little afraid physically. When I grew into myself, the realisation changed. That when you hurt yourself, it's transient; it doesn't stay forever.”

“There is no point winning the semi if you don't win the final. It's as simple as that. No one will remember a big semifinal if you lose the final, so you have to do it all again.”

“When you've done something for more than a third of your life, your whole adult life, and then all of a sudden you're going to have to switch off and say, 'No more,' you want to grasp as much of it and enjoy the last few years of it as much as you can. Because you can't get those years back.”

“I would say I thrive in a competitive environment.”

“I get burnt in the sun, so there's no point me getting pecs for when I take my shirt off in the summer.”