British and Irish Lions centre Jonathan Davies has expressed his excitement about playing alongside Brian O'Driscoll on the tour of Australia.
Davies is expected to partner Jamie Roberts in the centre against the Barbarians on Saturday, with Manu Tuilagi and O'Driscoll likely to be rested after they were both involved in domestic cup finals.
While he admits that the competition for places will be tough, Davies is hoping to learn as much as he can from the Ireland legend.
"When I was growing up, I thought O'Driscoll was phenomenal," Davies told the Llanelli Star. "He's still phenomenal now, but in a different way. It's the sign of a player of the highest class that he can adjust his game in really smart ways as he gets older. I found that out when we played Ireland in February. He had the better of me that day, by far.
"I played against him at the last World Cup and I was still a little in awe of him, even then. After the game, I thought it would be nice to have his shirt as a souvenir. At the same time, Rhys Priestland said he wanted Ronan O'Gara's jersey. Brian was doing media, so I stood there waiting for him like a supporter, which, in a way, I was. When the moment came, he said 'no problem' and we swapped. I was pretty chuffed.
"I'm just looking forward to watching him and learning a lot from him. I've played a lot with Jamie at international level, but I'm really excited about getting some game time with the other centres."
The Lions face the Barbarians in Hong Kong for the tour opener on Saturday.
Matt Cotton
