O’Driscoll reveals eyesight problems

BRIAN O’Driscoll, revered around the globe as one of the best to ever pick up a rugby ball as revealed a startling fact about himself.

Throughout his career, he suffered with poor eyesight and only had treatment after he retired.

He revealed that it was so bad he was unable to make out somebody calling his name from across the road.

Speaking on Off the Ball’s new Kids Takeover segment on Newstalk, O’Driscoll (above) said: “It’s funny what the brain does and how it adapts. And probably my quality of life outside the rugby pitch improved massively when I did get my eyes lasered.

“It stopped me finding myself in situations where someone would call my name from across the road and I didn’t know if I knew that person or not.

“When I went and got my eyes lasered eventually the specialist told me the only reason I was able to play professional sport was because it happened at such a young age that my brain was able to adapt to see what I needed to see.

“I might have struggled with hurling and golf – which is probably why I’m such a brutal golfer.”

■ MEANWHILE, England and British and Irish Lions star Jack Nowell has taken the decision to close down his business amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Nowell co-owns a pub, The Swordfish Inn, in Cornwall but given current government restrictions on pubs and restaurants, staying open was not a possibility.

“I had a call with my mates and co-owners of the Swordfish Inn back in Cornwall,” he told the Daily Mail.

“Rather than operate a takeaway service, we decided to close everything down.

“It’s a concerning time as a business owner, because you don’t know how long this will last, but we’re quite lucky that we’ve done reasonably well over the last year or so.

“We can look at it as a positive opportunity to paint it up just before the summer, which is our busiest time in Cornwall.”