Driving through rush-hour traffic in Donnybrook on that Friday evening, having just spent some time shooting the breeze with Brian O’Driscoll, arguably the finest rugby player in the world at the moment – and certainly the finest centre – I can’t help but feel a sense of disappointment, what might have been.

The Leinster colours are still hanging from the old stadium in the heart of Donnybrook, but there will be no glorious homecomings for Leinster this season. Their semi-final collapse against Perpignan in the Heineken European Cup means that instead of focusing his mind on the final against Toulouse the following day, Ireland and Leinster centre Brian O’Driscoll is back in Stillorgan in the Radisson Hotel, finishing off an afternoon of interviews, having spent the morning modelling the latest sportswear from Adidas.

Brian also injured his hamstring in the Perpignan game, meaning that he has had to miss Ireland’s summer tour this year (“I hope it’s not career-threatening but it wouldn’t have been worth the risk of going on tour”). At the time of writing, he has already been badly missed in our Perth mauling at the hands of the Aussies – but he should be back to full strength and fitness by the time the World Cup comes around in October.

O’Driscoll has enjoyed an impressive level of success so far in his rugby career. Born on January 21, 1979 in Dublin, the 5’11” centre made his Irish debut when he was called into the squad for the summer tour to Australia in 1999. He subsequently starred in both tests against the Wallabies, and since then has become a regular in the Irish team, and one of the most electrifying players in world rugby.

Made captain last season, in the absence of the talismanic Keith Wood, O’Driscoll is already Ireland’s record try scorer at international level. As a result, he is one of the most instantly recognisable sportspeople in the country.

In person, he’s extremely likeable. He treats each question seriously, generally taking a couple of seconds to think about it before answering.

“This is for Hot Press? I hope these are going to be good questions,” he smiles. Looking at his imposing shoulders and obvious physical strength, so do I.

John Walshe: Did you always want to be a professional rugby player?

Brian O'Drisoll: No. I wanted to be Jerry Maguire, essentially. When you’re growing up, you don’t know what you want to be. After you get over your fourth birthday when you want to be a fireman, you don’t really have a clue what you want to do. I wanted to be involved in the sports industry, and it seemed fun being Jerry Maguire. I wanted to get into PR or into sports agency, maybe: I wasn’t even sure. So when the rugby kicked in, it just happened for me.

JW: When did you realise you were actually good at rugby?

B O'D: I suppose when I was 17, I knew I was OK. I had played at Clontarf, at Under 16 level. We won the league and I played well that year. Two years later, when I was in my final year at school, I started making representative teams and I realised that I was handy enough – but no world beater. You don’t put too much thought into those sort of things. Things just evolve for you: it just happens.

JW: So when you were a kid, who were your sporting heroes?

B O'D: Mark Hughes. I love Mark Hughes. I used to be a big Manchester United fan, when they were less successful. It’s more difficult these days to be a Man U. fan because half the world supports them.

JW: And what did you admire particularly about Mark Hughes?

B O'D: He scored fantastic goals: he never scored tap-ins. As well, he had a bit of tenacity about him. He never once pulled out of a 50-50 tackle. He just had that bit of extra grit. Back in those days, strikers that were like that were few and far between.

JW: Did you play other sports when you were growing up?

B O'D: Yeah, I played soccer and GAA. I played golf. I was a bit of a Sport Billy. I loved it and couldn’t get enough of it. I was pretty good at soccer.

JW: Ever any thoughts of taking your career in that direction when you were younger?

B O'D: I stopped playing soccer when I was 12. When I went to Blackrock, that was the end of it, as far as I was concerned.

JW: Had you a role model in rugby?

B O'D: In rugby, Michael Jones. I just thought he was awesome playing for New Zealand. He was ahead of his time.

JW: When did you realise that you could make a career out of rugby?

B O'D: When I got my first contract, I said, ‘Oh, this is fun, getting paid for playing rugby’. Things just progressed from there. It really happened before I started thinking about it.

JW: What do you think of the era of professionalism in sport?

B O'D: (grins) I love it.

JW: Getting your first call-up for Ireland must have been special?

B O'D: It was pretty cool. When I got called into the squad, it was unexpected. But I was on the bench for the Italian game, so going on the tour of Australia in 1999 wasn’t completely ‘Shock Horror!’ I was hopeful of getting on the tour, having been in the squad for the Italian game.

JW: You really grasped the opportunity with both hands, literally, and have been pretty much an ever-present since that tour.

B O'D: I suppose so. It’s now (pauses) 38, I think it’s 38 caps later. That’s terrible. I always gave out to people for not remembering how many caps they have and now here I am, 38 or 39. It can be so fickle, though: one injury and it’s a case of ‘Who are you?’.

JW: The hat-trick against France in Paris in 2000, was truly incredible. That was the first time Ireland had won on French soil since the early 1970s. You must have been on top of the world after that one?

B O'D: Yeah, I was. Sometimes you only appreciate it fully afterwards. Sure, I had a good night that night. But at the same time, when you think about it, I probably didn’t appreciate the fact that we had won over there as much as people who had been going over for the previous 28 years. Looking into the crowd and seeing certain people… It made their year. It was just one of those days where everything went right. I’d say it was the best game I ever played in.

JW: Being made captain must have been another landmark?

B O'D: I didn’t see it coming at all. I was asked to think about it, and there wasn’t too much thinking to be done. When you’re asked to be captain of your country, you take it. It was very nerve-wracking, at the same time, but I enjoyed the experience. I was getting a lot of help from guys in the squad who had captained the Irish team before, or were captains of other teams, so they made it an awful lot easier for me. Also, the fact that we were winning helped. There were lots of people going ‘Jesus, he’s a great captain’ because we had a winning side.

JW: Do you feel extra responsibility as captain?

B O'D: More pressure, certainly. But responsibility? Maybe an element of it. But it was weird. We weren’t really in a situation too many times where you’re having to chat to the boys behind the posts to get them going again. Plus, there are plenty of other people who are willing to do that. My role as captain is to try and lead by example, as far as I’m concerned. I’m more of an actions-rather-than-words sort of captain.

JW: Ciaran Fitzgerald had the infamous war cry of “Where’s your fucking pride?” Do you have any special words of wisdom to gee up the troops?

B O'D: I don’t think I have any one thing in particular that I fall back on.

JW: What about breaking Brendan Mullin’s try-scoring record for Ireland?

B O'D: It was fantastic. No disrespect to Italy, but it was a pity that it happened over there. It was a pity that I didn’t get it at home: that would have been lovely. As well, it was a pity that I did it playing as badly as I did that day. That kind of pissed me off.

JW: Being called up for the Lions for the Australian tour in 2001 was another major achievement. But having won the first test, it must have been hugely disappointing to lose the series?

B O'D: It was very disappointing. But at the same time, you have to take your hat off to Australia. It’s not easy to come back from one nil down.

JW: The season just gone was a good one for Ireland – ultimately, do you feel slightly disappointed both in terms of losing to England in the Grand Slam decider and Leinster falling at the semi-final hurdle in the Heineken European Cup?

B O'D: I feel more disappointed about the Leinster thing than the Grand Slam, because England deserved to win it. There’s no two ways about it. They were the better team. They are a better team. And you have to play brilliantly, and for them to be below par, to beat them. We know that. But with Leinster, that competition was there for the winning. It was there for the taking and we threw it away.

JW: I was on the North Terrace that day, and there was a palpable feeling among the fans that you had let yourselves down.

B O'D: Absolutely. We just didn’t get out of the blocks. And I was saying to some of the other journalists in here that you just have to put it down to being one of those days. You get a couple of them in your career and unfortunately, ours came at a really bad time, in a semi-final. But you have to bite your lip and get on with it.

JW: Who are the people in the Irish squad who raise morale when things aren’t going so well?

B O'D: Woodie: he is a great man for that. Also, the likes of Axl Foley [Anthony Foley]. Reggie [Corrigan] has become a very good leader in the last couple of years: I think he is an excellent captain for Leinster. And then there’s Maggsie [Kevin Maggs], Denis [Hickey], Humphs [David Humphreys], Rogs [Ronan O’Gara] – all the senior players are good on that count.

JW: Realistically, what are your hopes for Ireland in the World Cup?

B O'D: I’m not going to say Quarter Final, Semi Final or Final… To perform well, to improve on how we have been playing, to play more patterns and, hopefully, if we can manage that, the results will take care of themselves.

JW: Who are the toughest team you have played against?

B O'D: One of the toughest games I ever played was a European Cup game against Northampton, over in Franklin’s Gardens. We just about bet them. I was shattered after that: it was just smash, bang, wallop all day. I was pretty goosed after the Welsh game this year as well. I was emotionally drained. Those two come to mind immediately.

JW: So what are your biggest achievement and biggest disappointment to date?

B O'D: My biggest achievement, I suppose, would be getting onto the Lions team because in a way that is the highest standard you can play at. My biggest disappointment… (big pause), probably Lens in the World Cup in 1999, when Ireland lost to Argentina.

JW: What are your ambitions?

B O'D: I’d love to win the Six Nations, the World Cup, the Celtic League, the Tri-Nations.

JW: The Tri-Nations? Can you see yourself playing outside Ireland?

B O'D: Yeah, at some stage, I’m sure. Just to get away from the monotony of Dublin and to experience new cultures. Not for the bigger purse, just for my own sanity. Change is good, sometimes.

JW: Aside from sport, what do you do to relax?

B O'D: These are the good questions (laughs). I sleep a lot. I really like sleeping. I like eating out. I love Milano. I was in there last night. I absolutely love the Fiorentina. It is the world’s greatest pizza. Aside from that, I like socialising, now and then, and I like watching MTV.

JW: Are you a big music fan?

B O'D: I like a very wide range of music. Tonight, for example, I’m going to Justin Timberlake. Six months ago, you’d be shot if you said you were going to Justin Timberlake, but he’s started to become extremely cool. I’m really looking forward to that. Tomorrow night, I’m going to see The Four Of Us, which is the complete opposite to Justin Timberlake.

JW: So you go to a few gigs then?

B O'D: I go to a couple of gigs. Denis [Hickey] got tickets to The Four Of Us and while I initially thought I wouldn’t be mad on it, I was listening to a bit of their stuff and I thought ‘Yeah, I’ll go and see it’. I don’t go to that many big concerts, really. I went to see David Gray a while ago. I’ve been to see Tracey Chapman at Dublin Castle, The White Stripes – their new album is class – and I’ve been to see Travis and U2.

JW: It seems a few of the current team are into their music. I saw Shane Horgan and Malcolm O’Kelly at a Frames gig in Vicar St recently.

B O'D: Shaggy [Shane Horgan] loves The Frames. I like them, but I wouldn’t be mad on them. You get your real Frames nut-cases. They have a great following, they really do.

JW: How do you cope with the whole notion of celebrity. From what you’ve been saying, presumably you can still go out and enjoy yourself without being hassled too much?

B O'D: It depends. I very rarely go out, where I don’t get neck-braced in some way by someone wanting to talk shit. But that’s part and parcel of it and you put up with it, providing they’re not too drunk and they’re not abusive.

JW: Have you ever had any really dodgy encounters?

B O'D: I’ve had a few, yeah – literally, people won’t get the message. It’s usually drunk people. I really try to not be rude to anyone but it gets to the point, at certain stages, where you have to tell people to leave you alone.

JW: As a rugby player you’ve got maybe 12 or 13 years at the top. Have you ever thought about what you’re going to do when you hang up the boots?

B O'D: Not really. I’m trying to think of things to do but they’re not flowing. So I don’t quite know yet. Hopefully something will jump into my head in the next six years. Touch wood, I’ll be around that long.