Brian O'Driscoll will be back in Ireland colours this weekend when the Wallabies visit Croke Park © Inpho Photography

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Players/Officials: Brian O'Driscoll

Teams: Ireland

Ireland's Brian O'Driscoll will become rugby's latest centurion on Sunday when he leads his country against Australia at Croke Park.

With 93 Ireland caps and another six Test appearances for the British & Irish Lions to his name, the 30-year old will become only the 11th player to achieve the century when he lines up against the Wallabies.

A fresh-faced 20-year-old O'Driscoll made his debut as a replacement against the same opposition in 1999 and the Leinster star expects the nerves he felt that day to return this weekend.

"I was really looking forward to my first cap and didn't start feeling nervous until the fireworks went off when Australia came onto the pitch," said O'Driscoll. "I wasn't expecting that. Once the whistle went for the start of the game all those nerves evaporated. I still have those nerves - if you don't the mind isn't sharp.

"You have to be on the ball against Australia so if you're eating your pre-match meal without any problem then there's an issue there. You need to be forcing your food down. The butterflies focus the mind and get you ready for combat."

O'Driscoll has silenced his critics with a return to top form this year and he was a key player in both Ireland's Six Nations Grand Slam success and the Lions' memorable tour to South Africa. His captaincy record with Ireland reads 39 victories in 56 matches dating back to 2002, yet despite his long service he appreciates the job as much as ever.

"We're in the fortunate position of having a lot of great leaders around so the workload is shared," he said. "But it would be strange to be playing in an Ireland international and not be captain.

"Keith Wood was the last Irish captain I played under and that feels like an eternity ago. I enjoy it as much now as I did in the early days, though it probably comes more naturally to me now.

"You always look forward to coming back into the Irish squad. It's the pinnacle of everyone's career. I have great hunger for the game at the moment and hopefully we'll pick up where we left off in March."

The Wallabies have lost twice on their last three visits to Dublin but opened their Grand Slam tour with an 18-9 victory over England last Saturday in a scoreline that flattered Martin Johnson's side.

"Australia are a very smart team, the smartest in world rugby," said O'Driscoll. "They think about how to break down defences and have the personnel to do that. "They're able to adapt on the pitch, changing from Plan A if they need to. That makes them dangerous, but also a great challenge."

+ Click here for the most capped internationals of all-time courtesy of Statsguru