RUGBY IRELAND v NEW ZEALAND:THEY'VE HEARD the whispers, that Brian O'Driscoll isn't the force of nature he once was.

A player in decline? Wayne Smith, the All Blacks assistant coach, yesterday stood outside the wire fencing around the Garda all-weather pitch at Westmanstown, near Lucan, and assumed the demeanour of someone having his leg pulled.

For the previous few minutes, Smith had been talking about the dilemma of having three world-class players of the calibre of Conrad Smith, Ma’a Nonu and Sonny Boy Williams – the convert from rugby league – as a selection headache. Three into two just doesn’t go.

Yet, at the half-hearted suggestion that O’Driscoll might not be the force of old, Smith retorted: “Brian O’Driscoll is probably the best midfielder in the world.”

Later, Smith added: “If you look at his contact skills, he is just as good as ever. In contact, he has got power and agility still.”

No, there’s no danger of the All Blacks underestimating either O’Driscoll or the Irish team as a whole. Quite the opposite, in fact, as Smith explained.

“We’ve had a look at all their games prior to the autumn internationals, and we’ve had a look at South Africa and Samoa. They will be disappointed with Samoa no doubt, but they played well against South Africa and could have pinched it in the end.

“They have a never-say-die attitude and that’s what I like about them. In the South African game they were still having a real crack at it, so we would expect them to be a lot better than they were against Samoa.

“And if you look at the second-half (against New Zealand) in New Plymouth (in June), they were pretty expansive, scored four tries, were good in the tackle, were hard to handle. So, perhaps they will go back to that philosophy.”

In fact, Smith believes the sight of the All Black jersey come Saturday will act as a motivating factor as much as an intimidating one.

“Our expectation is they will be a lot better this Saturday,” said Smith, before going on to make a comparison with Scotland’s approach last week and how the Irish will likely prepare this week.

“Over there, the Scottish boys probably made an error, talking too much about us before the game, I felt. That’s what potential victory against the All Blacks does. To go out thinking, ‘if we win this, we are going to be legends’; you’ve got to be careful about that.”

As history did last Saturday, and which it has done so often down the years to better teams than Scotland, the All Blacks taught them an on-field lesson.

On the back of Ireland’s recent run, with the hard-earned win over Samoa finally stopping a rot which had reached a six-match losing streak, there is unlikely to be any chance of Declan Kidney’s men falling into the same trap as the Scots.

And, for the All Blacks, this penultimate match of their BackingBlack Tour 2010 is all about getting things right ahead of next year’s World Cup on home turf. Yesterday, Smith observed there would be “a lot of tough calls” and “tough selection” decisions. “But that’s good and that’s what we’re after,” he said, with the most heated competition most evident in the battle for the centres positions.

“It’s a good dilemma. One of the aims (of the tour) was to bring some new players into the team, to give them opportunities. I think midfield is one area we have really strengthened. It’s good. It’s what we are after.”

With the arrival of Williams, that midfield battle is hotter than ever.

“Everybody wants the best players playing for the All Blacks and for the best players to go to the World Cup, and they (Smith and Nonu) have been helping him (Williams) get to grips with what they are doing, the little subtleties at this level. So, far from shying away from competition, they have added to his game, and that’s one of the great things about the All Blacks.

“At the end of the day, we are here for the team and everyone’s got to buy into it,” said Smith.