O'Driscoll's underdogs cast as top dogs

Six Nations: Irish at last look capable of living with great expectation as France face test of the Dublin crucible

If it is to be expressed at all it is in the softest of voices, but there is simply no getting away from it – Ireland have a great chance of winning the Grand Slam. It has been said before, of course, and they have invariably come up short, but this time everything is set fair in Dublin for the success of the green party.

Ireland have made the best possible start to the Six Nations' Championship, with victories by record margins in Edinburgh and Rome. Two of their remaining three matches are at Lansdowne Road, beginning next Saturday with the arrival of France. This week the Irish management will be at pains to point out that France, the Grand Slam champions, are the favourites.

OK, they lost to England at Twickenham, but they scored three tries to one. What is more, Eddie O'Sullivan, the sharp Ireland coach, will remind everybody of what happened when Ireland visited Paris last April. The French scored five tries to one. The last thing Ireland want is to be burdened with huge expectations. It does not sit comfortably on their shoulders. What does is the mantle of underdog. They like nothing better than to be written off. Sorry, not this time.

Ireland are on a roll and are solid, composed and relatively fresh. While many of the England players hit seven bells out of each other most weekends the Irish, centrally contracted, lie in wait.

The red rose brigade have home games against Italy and Scotland which, on paper at least, are formalities, so everything points to a grand finale when England visit Dublin on Sunday 30 March.

Under the captaincy of Brian O'Driscoll, at 24 the youngest member of the squad, Ireland have won their last five matches. All told the sequence is eight successive victories, an Irish record. There were green shoots of optimism 12 months ago but they were rudely uprooted, first by England at Twickenham (45-11), and then France in Paris (45-5).

This time things are different and it is not just down to the masterstroke of making O'Driscoll captain, a leader who commands respect. Last season Ireland's line-out was one of the worst in the championship. Malcolm O'Kelly, an unhappy fringe player on the Lions tour to Australia, has reinvented himself. At 28 he is in the form of his life.

The next thing to look at is the scrum. Based around the successful Leinster model, it has become a force rather than a liability. It is being honed not just by the scrummaging coach, the Australian Tony Darcy, but by the legendary Roly Meates, a former coach of Ireland. For a time Meates was out in the cold after criticising the national set-up for its amateurish approach. Ironically, he now does not receive a penny for his services, yet nobody can accuse the current class of being anything but professional.

Then there is Ireland's defence, which is being marshalled by Mike Ford, the former rugby league player. After the system broke down against England and France last year, the Irish had a team meeting at which Denis Hickie expressed complete confidence in Ford and urged others to do the same. Ford regards it as a turning point and Ireland went on not only to defeat Australia in the autumn, but to deny the world champions a try. They also prevented Scotland from crossing their line at Murrayfield.

There are other reasons for believing this can be Ireland's season. Ford is a relative newcomer, as is O'Sullivan's assistant, Declan Kidney, who put Munster on the map, and the partnerships are beginning to work.

The same can be said of the players. This is not a young team. Most are in their prime and are aware that they have an opportunity of a lifetime. Also, through the exploits of Leinster and Munster in the Heineken Cup and the Celtic League, they are accustomed to winning. The loss of loosehead prop Reggie Corrigan, who broke two bones in his right arm in Italy, is a blow, but the French will be without their captain, Fabien Galthié, who has a shoulder injury.

Ireland announce their team on Tuesday, when Marcus Horan will be named as the successor to Corrigan. The only other changes could take place in the threequarter line where Shane Horgan may return on the wing for John Kelly and Girvan Dempsey will be considered at full-back. Rob Henderson, the Lion who formed such an effective link with O'Driscoll in Australia, is also waiting in the wings. For the first time in a long time Ireland are spoilt for choice.

Geordan Murphy, who can play full-back or wing and who scored tries against Scotland and Italy, is an asset to any team, as is David Humphreys. Ronan O'Gara has recovered from an ankle injury, but O'Sullivan would be crazy to omit Humphreys, whois in excellent form and scored 26 points against the Scots and 17 against the Italians. Come the World Cup, Ireland will have two No 10s who can amass points at a fair old rate.

To cap it all, would anybody have dared imagine that Ireland would not miss Keith Wood? His replacement, Shane Byrne, has brought more than a considerable head of hair to the front row.

While Clive Woodward has been looking mournfully at a casualty list that has been getting longer by the day, O'Sullivan had his squad working in Dublin in midweek. Most play and live in Ireland and O'Sullivan was able to summon the two that don't, Murphy of Leicester and Kevin Maggs of Bath. His request for Paul Burke was rejected by Harlequins, who reminded O'Sullivan that the stand-off would be attending the funeral of Nick Duncombe.

When O'Driscoll was appointed captain there was only one dissenting voice. Warren Gatland, O'Sullivan's predecessor, wrote in a Dublin newspaper that outside centre was not the right position from which to lead a team and that the captaincy should have been given to Anthony Foley. O'Sullivan dismissed it as ridiculous, and it's easy to why. O'Driscoll can lead Ireland to their first slam in 55 years. Their first, and last, was in 1948 and only Roly Meates was around to remember that.