Girvan Dempsey can think of no better way to mark Brian O'Driscoll's 50th Test as captain than finally ending Ireland's losing streak against the All Blacks. Ireland have never beaten New Zealand but Dempsey is hoping to re-write history at Croke Park.

"Beating the All Blacks for the first time on the same day as Brian reaches his 50 Tests as captain would be fairytale stuff," the fullback said this week. "All the players are aware of the achievement and will do everything they possibly can to ensure it's a special day for him."

O'Driscoll reaches the milestone in Saturday's clash as Ireland's most successful rugby skipper. Since succeeding Keith Wood he has won 67 per cent of his 49 matches in charge, leading Ireland through a glory-laden spell that included a hat-trick of Triple Crowns.

"Brian is such a quality player, you just have to look at the sterling performances he's put in for Ireland and Leinster to see how good he is," said Dempsey.

"What stands out about him is that he always brings his best game to the big occasion. As a captain he's vocal but primarily he's a captain who leads by example.

"He controls things exceptionally well and is very level headed. That helps his decision-making on what we should do and how the backline should attack.

"He's very quick to see opportunities to attack places and his communication means that is translated across the backline very quickly."