BRIAN O’DRISCOLL SAYS he is ‘intrigued’ but hopeful that Leinster’s move to recruit Graham Henry on a consultancy basis this month can leave a lasting impact on the province.
The 2011 World Cup-winning coach will arrive in Dublin before the end of July to assist Leo Cullen and his inexperienced coach ticket during pre-season.
“It’s very interesting. I’m intrigued as to what value Graham Henry will add. I’m sure it will be substantial,” O’Driscoll said after the announcement that Setanta Sports was to be rebranded as Eir Sport and would hold broadcast rights for the 2019 Rugby World Cup,
“It’s a long time since I worked with Graham Henry in 2001, I’d say he’s a vastly different coach than then. He’s won the ultimate competition in the world in a very pressurised situation.
“I’d imagine he’s a guy who’ll have done a lot of research and watched a lot of games, so he’d know them well.”
Perhaps even more important than any elements of playing style, the former centre is keen to see signs of an improved culture within the Leinster squad — an issued raised by Jonathan Sexton towards the tail end of last season.
“It’s about building the culture a little bit more. He clearly built on the All Black culture from a dark place in ’07 to win the World Cup four years later. It should just enhance Leinster’s culture which, from the sounds of things, has just slipped a small bit and bring in things where mediocrity won’t be acceptable. That’ll be a good starting point.”
He added: “I’ve never worked under a consultant before. I’ve never been in that environment.