KEY POINTS:
DUBLIN - Brian O'Driscoll will captain Ireland for the 50th time this weekend and hopes to mark it by leading his country to their first rugby victory over the All Blacks.
The end of a 21-match winless streak spanning 103 years would be the ideal memento for O'Driscoll, who has few happy memories from his matches against the All Blacks.
He suffered a tour-ending shoulder injury when leading the British and Irish Lions in the first test at Christchurch three years ago.
Last June, in very cold conditions in Wellington, O'Driscoll shivered uncontrollably during the post-match interview while trying to comment on another defeat.
That 21-11 loss was the latest in a sequence of relatively near misses he has endured for his homeland, but like other Irish players this week he has spoken positively of the experience.
In their last three meetings, all in New Zealand, the All Blacks' biggest margin of victory has been 11 points - which amounts to cause for optimism for the man who took over from Keith Wood as Irish captain in 2004.
O'Driscoll, who makes his 87th test appearance this weekend, was encouraged by how close his side had come from 2006 onwards and thought Ireland's perennial struggle against the world's No 1 ranked team meant it was the All Blacks who would be burdened by expectation.
"The pressure isn't so much on us because we've never beaten them," he said.
"The pressure is on them so the best attitude for us is to see if we can put ourselves in a position to win by being hard to beat."
- NZPA
