Brian O'Driscoll: 'There's something about this Ireland team that just inspires confidence'

Brian O'Driscoll says he never lost confidence Ireland would keep their Guinness Six Nations Grand Slam bid alive against Scotland last Sunday, even when the script went against them at the start of the second half.

In an attritional first 40 minutes, Ireland lost Caelan Doris, Iain Henderson and Dan Sheehan to injury, while Sheehan's replacement Rónan Kelleher also had to depart for a shoulder injury early in the second half.

Ireland were 8-7 in front by that stage, but with Josh van der Flier throwing into the lineout, and Cian Healy coming in to pack down at hooker for the first time in his professional career, it looked like Andy Farrell's side would have to endure a nervous final 35 minutes if they were to keep their Grand Slam bid going all the way to Round 5.

In the end, Ireland looked relatively comfortable at both scrum and lineout, with James Lowe and Jack Conan adding tries to give Ireland a 22-7 lead, which they comfortably saw out in the final 15 minutes.

"I was texting one of the boys I would have played with, we were texting throughout the game, and I still felt confident," O'Driscoll says of the chaos early in the second half.

"Defensively, we had looked pretty solid, even when we got busted once or twice, our scramble was pretty good, and I thought we were creating a lot of chances for ourselves.

"I really wasn't panicking. I said 'I still think this will be a 12-point game', and it was 15 in the end. There's something about this team that just inspires confidence in what they're doing."

And the former Ireland captain says he's grown to expect this team will be comfortable in chaos.

"They create so many chances, and there's total comfort in what they're trying to do. It feels like there's no panic. If you look