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Home» 2. Sport» 3. Rugby Union Modern, regimented game still has place for some rebellion, says Brian O'Driscoll Brian O'Driscoll is talking rebellion. I'm serious. Possibly the most gifted, certainly the most celebrated, back of his generation is bemoaning a lifetime spent following team protocols. Modern, regimented game still has place for some rebellion, says Brian O'Driscoll Glory days: Brian O'Driscoll and Leinster celebrate winning the Heineken Cup last season Photo: PA Paul Ackford By Paul Ackford 6:51PM GMT 05 Nov 2011 Comments Comments "I'm not arguing that modern players are institutionalised," he says. "It would be very harsh on rugby to term it that way, but I get a schedule every week and I have to follow it. That's not my choice. There is no flexibility. You have to adhere to it because there are 30 or 35 players following it as well. "You get told what time the gym sessions are, what time you have to eat, what you must eat, when and where you're going to meet, when you need to rest. And that's at provincial level. "When you step up to international level it's even more prescriptive. You get a sheet of paper pushed under your door the night before detailing the plans for the following day. "It would be nice to look at a blank canvass for once and put it all together yourself, but you've limited scope for rebellion," saysd O'Driscoll, who'll be back for Leinster when the Heineken Cup kicks off next weekend. "You know what was a bit of rebellion from me? The blond hair. I was in control of that. I look back now and think it was a bit immature, but no one could tell me what to do on that score. Related Articles * From Russia with love 04 Nov 2011 * Martyn Thomas's departure will not clean up the RFU cesspool 05 Nov 2011 * RFU faces radical overhaul 04 Nov 2011 * Newcastle 16 Worcester 16 04 Nov 2011 * Border rivals are best of enemies 04 Nov 2011 * Leicester's big cats can outmuscle Exiles 04 Nov 2011 "They had no control over that. Some of the Welsh boys have gone for fake tans. I went for blond hair. It was an outlet, not to vent a frustration, but, inadvertently, to stick two fingers up and say, 'This is me. As bad a decision as this might be, I'm going to roll with it.' " O'Driscoll laughs at the memory, and the tale is told with more than a hint of self-deprecation, but it's a chilling story all the same. The one guy in northern hemisphere rugby feted as an iconoclast for his virtuosity amid the bashers and boshers of the modern midfield, and even he finds it difficult to buck the system. That's what's wrong with the bloody game, I splutter. There are no rebels. Regimentation rules. Mavericks are shunned. Look at Danny Cipriani. He didn't fit in and he was canned. You played against him. You must have enjoyed the experience. "Yeah. Those players are exciting, but that's not great for a coach of an international side. That's great for you and I watching from a distance. You have to remember there's a guy with his head on the block coaching these people. "I love watching Quade Cooper but my heart would be in my mouth at times if I were Australian because only three of the five things he tries come off. What happens on the other two occasions?" Conformity, or the lack of it, dominates the conversation. I tell him I have real difficulty in understanding how youngsters, spoon-fed from the moment they first lace their boots, can ever be expected to become independent enough to run a game of rugby, but O'Driscoll is convinced they can. "I look at guys in the Leinster academy and you can see who's going to make it to the big stage and who's going to get lost along the way. It's not necessarily an educational thing. There are some brilliant soccer players out there who are not intellectually gifted and the same is true of rugby players. A personality shines through despite the regimentation. You can't curtail that side of people." Possibly. But it's the way the spark manifests itself which is crucial, how independence of mind and deed sits with judgment. That's the intriguing balance and one several England players got spectacularly wrong during the World Cup in New Zealand. "I think a good bit of England's behaviour was heavily over the top," O'Driscoll says. "Not having seen a lot of the media coverage, but hearing what people have said, they did get absolutely pasted. Then you read what Lewis [Moody] has been saying about it and you go, 'He was the captain of the team. Maybe it was as bad as was made out.' " I ask O'Driscoll if he was surprised that they were so bang out of order, especially as Martin Johnson was the guy in charge, a man O'Driscoll knows well, having toured with him on the British and Irish Lions expedition to Australia in 2001. "There is a different mentality among the young guys coming through. There are people coming out of school saying I want to be a professional rugby player. When I came out of school that wasn't an option, and when Johnno came out of school that certainly wasn't an option. The youngsters see the fancy parts to rugby, the add-ons and the commercial tie-ins, and those change the person someone is at times." But enough to contaminate respect, to undermine a man of Johnson's stature during the period of a World Cup which should be the pinnacle of their sporting lives? "I have to be very careful with my words here because I am aware I'm commentating on something from a distance, but I would say if I were under Johnno he would command huge respect from me. But not all of those players were with him on the field. They might have watched him and respected him, but they might not have understood his personality. That's the only way I can understand it." How, then, do you explain Mike Tindall's behaviour? He was alongside Johnson in 2003. Amongst the players, he knows him as well as anyone. For the first time in an hour the shutters come down. "I'm not going to get drawn on Mike Tindall and his night out in Queenstown," O'Driscoll says. "I'm not going there." You see, that's the thing about O'Driscoll, the reason why he is held in such high regard. Unlike some, he knows when to stop, understands, too, the dynamic of the individual surviving and thriving within a team. "Life has changed. We're playing in a professional era where people expect more than players going out onto a rugby pitch, kicking lumps out of each other, then going out together afterwards to get slaughtered. We've moved on from that. Now, it's about kicking lumps out of each other and going home for an ice bath. Rugby's changed and the public's perception of what is acceptable has changed. "Do I regret the passing of the old ways? I think it's a shame that anonymity has gone out the window in the time it takes to send a tweet, and for people who want to keep a low profile that does make you a bit housebound. But that's not just for professional rugby and soccer players. "That's everyone, including business people going to a meeting with a competitor when they've called a sickie. A bit of me would have liked to have played in those far-off amateur days but, as much as I love the game, I also love picking up a pay packet every week, and you can't have it both ways. The advantages of what we do now definitely outweigh the disadvantages." Watch the Heineken Cup live in HD, starting Friday, 11 November, on Sky Sports. Live coverage is also available on the move on your iPad, iPhone or laptop via Sky Go. To find out more go to sky.com/skysports X Share & bookmark Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz What are these? * Share: Share Tweet http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/8872075/Modern-regimented-g ame-still-has-place-for-some-rebellion-says-Brian-ODriscoll.html Telegraph Rugby Union * Sport » * Paul Ackford » * England » * Ireland » External Links * Heineken Cup * Leinster Rugby X Share & bookmark Delicious Facebook Google Messenger Reddit Twitter Digg Fark LinkedIn Google Buzz StumbleUpon Y! Buzz What are these? 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