Rugby World Cup 2011: O’Driscoll targets semi-finals
Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll is eager to lead his side to their first World Cup semi-final at next month’s tournament in New Zealand.
Ireland have reached the quarter-finals on four previous occasions but they are yet to progress beyond the last eight.
“I don’t want to finish my own career not having achieved on the biggest stage,” said O’Driscoll. “There’s the motivation for me. People have different motivations but that’s mine. I want to finish my last World Cup on a high and do something no Irish side has done.”
Ireland have endured a miserable warm-up campaign, suffering four successive defeats in August – but O’Driscoll insists his side will not dwell on the losses ahead of their first Pool C match against USA on 11 September.
“You always have hopes for a win or two,” said the Ireland skipper. “We didn’t get them. So we’re not going to wallow in self-pity about it.
“Granted we haven’t won one of our four warm-up games. But we’ve done some really good stuff and definitely got a lot more match fitness under our belts.” 
