What's it going to take for Brian O'Driscoll to be able to move on from his shoulder injury?
There is no doubt O'Driscoll was unfairly taken out by Kevin Mealamu and Tana Umaga. If one of our players had been taken out in such a fashion, we'd have been livid.And if the players responsible had escaped censure by the IRB in the way our All Blacks did, there would have been an international incident.
The fact that O'Driscoll is still suffering from the injury and hasn't been back on the rugby field since that day in Christchurch, clearly isn't helping. Now, with the All Blacks set to play Ireland as part of their Grand Slam tour coinciding with the release of O'Driscoll's tour diary, the ugly incident is set to be played out again.
Never mind that O'Driscoll appears to have become delusional with the pain of his injury. The nurse physio who tried to souvenir his Lions shirt from his poor broken body as he lay in agony in the medical room at Jade Stadium appears to have as much substance as Suzie the South African waitress who poisoned the All Blacks.
But whether or not O'Driscoll's got that bit confused, the fact remains he sustained a career-threatening injury and nobody has been made accountable.
The IRB citing committee chose not to punish Umaga and Mealamu and while it might have been the wrong ruling, with hindsight, it was the ruling made at the time. What does O'Driscoll expect the All Black players to do? Suspend themselves?
It would be nice to think that at some stage on this tour, the All Blacks and O'Driscoll can sit down and clear the air.
Otherwise, O'Driscoll's in danger of becoming one of those tragic figures in rugby history, remembered for his bad luck and bitterness, not his brilliance.
