Post by cenydd on Sept 5, 2013 12:33:21 GMT
Ireland's Brian O'Driscoll says he is still resentful towards Warren Gatland for dropping him for the deciding British and Irish Lions test against Australia in Brisbane.
The veteran centre, who was on his fourth Lions tour, played in the first two tests but was left out of the match squad for the 41-16 victory as coach Gatland opted for the Welsh pair of Jonathan Davies and Jamie Roberts.
The decision caused a storm of controversy, with New Zealander Gatland accused by former players of failing to understand the Lions, while O'Driscoll said that two months later he was still upset at what happened.
"Do I resent him? Yeah, there's resentment of course," he told Sky Sport on Thursday.
"Is he on the Christmas card list - unlikely.
"When you're left with disappointment that way, you can't but feel a little bit of resentment you know."
Davies and Roberts performed strongly as the Lions sealed their first series win since the trip to South Africa in 1997, but O'Driscoll, who had earlier said he had not been dropped since he was 17, believed he could have done just as well.
"People will say the decision was justified because of the results and the performance I guess.
The veteran centre, who was on his fourth Lions tour, played in the first two tests but was left out of the match squad for the 41-16 victory as coach Gatland opted for the Welsh pair of Jonathan Davies and Jamie Roberts.
The decision caused a storm of controversy, with New Zealander Gatland accused by former players of failing to understand the Lions, while O'Driscoll said that two months later he was still upset at what happened.
"Do I resent him? Yeah, there's resentment of course," he told Sky Sport on Thursday.
"Is he on the Christmas card list - unlikely.
"When you're left with disappointment that way, you can't but feel a little bit of resentment you know."
Davies and Roberts performed strongly as the Lions sealed their first series win since the trip to South Africa in 1997, but O'Driscoll, who had earlier said he had not been dropped since he was 17, believed he could have done just as well.
"People will say the decision was justified because of the results and the performance I guess.
uk.reuters.com/article/2013/09/05/uk-rugby-lions-odriscoll-idUKBRE9840FM20130905
....and they'd be quite right, too! This is a very unbecoming and unsporting thing for O'Driscoll to be saying - he was dropped because he wasn't on form, and other people were. It's as simple as that, and behaving like a spoiled brat over such things will do nothing to enhance the memory of his career on the field when he does retire. he was a great player, and is still a good player, but is no longer the player he was (and hasn't consistently been for a couple of seasons now), and he just needs to accept that.