O'Driscoll attacked over tackle reaction

Tana Umaga has reignited his feud with Brian O'Driscoll by branding the Ireland captain a "sook" for his reaction to the spear tackle that ended his Lions tour two years ago.

O'Driscoll had shoulder surgery following the challenge by Umaga and Keven Mealamu moments into the opening Test against the All Blacks in 2005. In his new autobiography, Umaga writes he was left stunned by the "sustained personal attack" that followed.

The 34-year-old, now a coach at Toulon, calls O'Driscoll a "sook", a word used to for a "timid, cowardly person or cry-baby".

"The sustained personal attack they [the Lions] launched against me was hard to believe and even harder to stomach," said Umaga. "You don't want to take it personally but it's almost impossible not to when another player, a guy you had some respect for, attacks your character in the most direct and damning terms. My first thought was 'jeez, don't be a sook; there's no use crying about it, man, it's over'.

"At first, the kerfuffle didn't really bother me. But it just snowballed and O'Driscoll kept going on about the fact that I hadn't rung him to say sorry.

"I finally obtained his number and got hold of him but it wasn't a warm exchange."