When Ireland beat France in Dublin in
February, France coach Bernard Laporte singled out centre Brian O'Driscoll as
the one reason for a second successive defeat to the Irish.

Lions coach Graham Henry is hoping the world champion Wallabies will have
similar regrets at the end of their three Test series.

"I don't to blow the guy out of the water, but when he matures he's going
to be something special," he said on Thursday.

He said the one single quality that marked out the player was his
anticipation.

"He gets in the right places at the right time," Henry said. "He sniffs out
opportunities. It's the sign of a gifted player."

But he said he was not worried the 22-year-old Dubliner, whose philosophy
in life is "enjoy it while it lasts", would get carried away by his own
success.

"I sat next to him on the plane from London to Singapore, so it helps you
get to know someone, and I was impressed by his balance and his modesty," Henry said.

O'Driscoll plays full-back for the first time on Friday when the Lions open their tour against Western Australia to give the tourists an extra option if ever the need arose.

"He's a talented kid, that's for certain," said Ireland captain Keith Wood who skippers the Lions on Friday in the absence of England's Martin Johnson who is rested.

"He could play anywhere you wanted him to."

O'Driscoll is as elusive off the field as he is on it."Things just happen the way they happen. I know what I want to achieve but there's nothing to gain by going on about it," he said."I just want to focus on my rugby."

The centre, who scored a brilliant hat-trick of tries against France two
years ago, has now scored nine tries in 15 internationals but none in his
three Tests against Australia.

He said he was not worried if the Wallabies devised special treatment for
him.

"If they do then there's space for someone else, and you don't want to
leave space for the Lions with the squad we've got," he said.