Ronan O'Gara's Diary: D'Arcy and O'Driscoll a huge loss but glad the usual ball is being used

I know we're missing what would be perceived as our two key men but I still think this is an opportunity for others to shine. Drico would be a loss to any team, and Darce too, but at least we have great players to step in.

I made my under-21 debut with Shane Horgan, I've played with him on and off throughout my career. He's just a fella I'm glad to have out there with me.

He's a superb player, a good guy with a great head and he's a permanent fixture in the team in whatever position.

Maggsy has 66 caps, he brings direct lines of running, he's passionate and he has fierce pride in the jersey, which I think goes a long, long way.

I don't like making excuses for missing touch a few times last week, and I'm not trying to, but I'm glad to be back playing with the Gilbert ball.

I'm familiar with it, I've been playing all-year round with it, bar once or twice. It's not going to cost me a thought. You can probably kick through it a little bit better with regard to line-kicking.

You can over-analyse all these things, it's a simple game and that's the beauty about it, but like all sports, a lot of technology has gone into it.

I have a great relationship with my sponsors and they put a lot of time into me. They fly me out to Germany where James Sikora is based full-time.

I have my own customised boots. I wear a size nine and a half runners but I'm now down to size eight boots. They're pretty severe on the feet, which wouldn't be in the best of nick. But just to get a greater feel on the ball, the size keeps coming down. I was eight and a half, and now I'm down to eight. It's painful in the first five minutes but you just get a great feel off the ball. I change my boots fairly regularly, especially in this weather. No disrespect to Naas or Terenure, but they're pretty mucky in winter.

A few of us watched the Italian game again on Monday night and the good thing was that the backs looked fairly sharp any time we got the ball. There were some good scores. We probably didn't play as well as we would have liked, but now our focus is firmly on Scotland.

They'll be upbeat after their performance in Paris. They were cruelly undone by the line call and to win in Paris would have been a massive result. They're obviously a hugely improved team. Their defence is an awful lot more aggressive, so that's an area we have to try and get the better of. But I think fellas are really looking forward to this game, and it's important that we step it up a gear and get another win under our belts.

The breakdown is going to be important against Scotland. Every time we carry the ball we've got to make sure we secure it and recycle it. If we give them a sniff of it, they'll turn it over.

The injuries to Brian and Gordon were a bad blow and threw a little bit of uncertainty into what the make-up of the team was going to be. But the backline that's lining up today trained together all week. After a delay in Rome and being caught in traffic in Dublin on Monday, we had a session on Tuesday morning, with skills and weights in the afternoon.

On Wednesday the kickers did some kicking practice but we couldn't use Lansdowne Road as it was in use for the Ireland-Portugal international. Thursday was training at Lansdowne Road and travel, and yesterday we went to Murrayfield for some more kicking practice.

Like any game, a lot will depend on weather conditions. The forecast is for heavy winds. That probably makes it a little bit more difficult but that's the same for both sides and it's not something we can control, so there's no point worrying about it.

Against France last weekend, Scotland did an awful lot of kicking and they didn't move the ball wide that much. But at home I'd presume they'd have to be a little bit more expansive, try and set midfield targets and get the ball to Gordon Bulloch and Jason White, two of their key men.

They'll probably look to kick for territory and then try and move it.

The first two games, away from home and six days apart, were always going to be difficult and now, with the two boys out, it's probably closer to a 50-50 game. Now it's all on the day and whichever set of players wants it most.

I know we are unbelievably hungry for victory and that we have the appetite for the hard yards.

I think that's going to be the key.