Ireland's new skipper Brian O'Driscoll is well aware he is on a steep learnig curve when he leads the side against the Wallabies inDublin tomorrow.

O'Driscoll, 23, has never captained a side in senior rugby so he faces an incredible step into the unknown when, in the absence of injured skipper Keith Wood, he leads Ireland out at Lansdowne Road to face the world champions.

He is making sure, though, that he will have the advice of Wood and fellow vice-captain Anthony Foley ringing in his ears.

O'Driscoll said: "There's going to be occasions when I'll have to make decisions and I'll deal with those as they arise. But there will be experienced heads on the field with me and Anthony's done it all before.

"I'll be chatting to him before the game and picking up bits and pieces from him. And I'll talk to Keith later on in the week and try to learn as much as I can going into the game.

"Of course it's going to be different, it's something I've never done before.

"So there is added pressure, but I'm going to try and go out and play my own game as I normally do and try not to put too much weight on my own shoulders.

"That's the whole thing about shared responsibility, so I can go out and play the way I feel I want to play and not feel that added pressure."

Of the challenge of the Wallabies O'Driscoll added, "They're world champions, need I say more? They've shown over the past three or four seasons at least that they're certainly not beaten until the 85th or 86th minute.

After giving as much time as possible to prove his fitness coach Eddie O'Sullivan was glad to be able to name wing Denis Hickie in his side for Lansdowne Road clash.

Australia coach Eddie Jones has targeted O'Driscoll as the man who stands between the Wallabies and victory.

Jones acknowledged Ireland were more than just a one-man team but chose to heap praise on the man who took Australia by storm when the Lions toured Down Under in 2001.

Jones said: "He is an immense talent, a guy who can run straight and at angles, a guy who can shift off both feet. He has developed a strong shot kicking game and he's not afraid to tackle either."

When asked if he thought the Irishman would find a place in his side, Jones added: "I would say he would get into virtually any team in the world, not much question about that."

As for the Irish side in general, Jones has plenty of respect for counterpart Eddie O'Sullivan's outfit.

"Experience tells us that Ireland are a difficult side to beat. They might be without Keith Wood but they have a lot of quality in the squad," he said.

"Ireland have progressed fairly rapidly in the last couple of years and any side that can go to New Zealand and do what they did in the first Test during the summer must be treated seriously.

Dangerous opposition they may be, but after last weekend's gruelling Test against Argentina in front of an intimidating Buenos Aires crowd, Jones is expecting an improved atmosphere on and off the pitch.

"I don't reckon the Irish will be spitting on our players when they take the field," he said.

"And it was a dreadful game as well. You can't be happy with a match when the ball is actually only in play for 21 of the 80 minutes.

"The good thing from our point of view was that the players got a match - their first bit of footy for almost nine weeks. It was better because we came away with a win in difficult circumstances."

Jones is expecting an improvement from his squad, despite being deprived of exciting backs Ben Tune, Mat Rogers and hooker Jeremy Paul, who were all injured in Buenos Aires.

"This tour is all about progressing as a team and a squad. I would like to think we could play a better brand of rugby this week although Ireland, I'm sure, may have something to say about that.

"The way Ireland have expanded their game suggests it will be an opportunity to produce a better game than last week. If that happens, the players on both sides and the fans will be satisfied."

Jones also defended his claim that he would not field his strongest available team until the Wallabies arrived at Twickenham to take on England later this month.

"It is no disrespect to either Argentina or Ireland to say that England are probably the strongest team in the northern hemisphere. Let me say this - we are here to develop as a squad and to win matches. We will be putting out a very strong side against Ireland but, in a couple of cases, we have to have the courage to experiment.

"We have picked a very stable squad but we also have to look to the future. The future for us is the World Cup next year and that means we have to try out new players.

"I'm sure Ireland will be using their three autumn matches to do exactly the same."

Jones has made six changes to his side for Saturday's Test match with Ireland in Dublin.

Injuries and a punishing travel schedule have forced the changes from the team which started last week's hard-fought victory over Argentina.

With injuries to Mat Rogers (ribs) and Ben Tune (hamstring), Matt Burke and Wendell Sailor come in at fullback and wing respectively.

Injury also sidelines hooker Jeremy Paul who is replaced by Adam Freier who will make his full debut.

The other pack changes see Owen Finegan back from an ankle injury to replace Dan Vickerman and David Giffin coming in for Justin Harrison.

Coach Eddie Jones said selectors had picked the best side available.

"We've picked a pretty exciting line-up for this Test," said Jones.

"We've got Adam Freier making his full debut, Matt Giteau on the bench, but at the same time we've got seasoned campaigners like David Giffin making a comeback from surgery and Owen Finegan starting in the second row".

Ireland:
G Dempsey (Terenure), S Horgan (Lansdowne), B O'Driscoll (Blackrock, capt), K Maggs (Bath), J Kelly (Munster), G Murphy (Leicester), D Hickie (Leinster), R O'Gara (Cork), P Stringer (Shannon); R Corrigan (Greystones), S Byrne (Blackrock), J Hayes (Shannon), G Longwell (Ballymena), M O'Kelly (St Mary's), V Costello (St Mary's), K Gleeson (St Mary's), A Foley (Shannon).

Replacements: F Sheahan (Cork), M. Horan, L Cullen (Blackrock), A Quinlan (Shannon), G Easterby (Llanelli), D Humphreys (Dungannon), John Kelly.

Australia:
N Stiles, A Freier, P Noriega, O Finegan, D Giffin, M Cockbain, G Smith, T Kefu, G Gregan (capt), S Larkham, S Staniforth, D Herbert, S Mortlock, W Sailor, M Burke.

Replacements: B Cannon, B Darwin, J Harrison, D Croft, C Whitaker, E Flatley, M Giteau.

Referee: Steve Walsh (NZ)
Venue: Dublin