Italy v Ireland: Ronan O'Gara looks ahead to the opening match in Italy tomorrow in the first of a regular column throughout the Six Nations campaign

The golden boy (Brian O'Driscoll) has moved on to bigger and better things, so I will enjoy my little pieces in the sun. You can't always believe what he wrote about me, but you can believe everything I write about him . . .

New Year's Day. Munster versus Leinster at Musgrave Park. I don't even remember the moment. I think I hit my hand in a tackle. I was carrying it for 10 or 15 minutes and then I couldn't grip the ball to pass. So I said "time to get outta here".

I left Musgrave Park in my gear. I have a picnic basket at home which serves both ankle and hand injuries. I filled that up and spent the night icing it. But my initial reaction was that it felt more than a bruise. Certain movements were far sorer than a bruise.

I'd broken the third and fourth metacarpals in South Africa. When I got it X-rayed this time, there was a fresh fracture in number four and three was still showing. I didn't put it in a cast over the summer but they insisted on it this time, and it made a huge difference.

I missed two big games for Munster in the Heineken European Cup which was disappointing, but to only miss two games was a relief.

The cast came off last Sunday week, and I was straight in to training the next day for the Llanelli match. I wanted to play in that and you have to get a game in, because nothing replicates game time.

For a change we got decent weather conditions and a good fast pitch. The passing went well, there was a little bit of mistiming in the kicking but I felt sharp. We just gifted them too many points, but I thought the ambition was as good as I've seen with Munster for a long, long time, which is a positive.

I wore gloves because I had a pad underneath the gloves just in case I got a stamp on the hand. Jim Williams advised me on that. I don't really like wearing gloves, but I might keep doing it just to give it extra protection for the next few weeks.

The Leinster lads had a game on Sunday so on Monday morning we had re-setting in the gym.

On Monday afternoon we had a contact session on the pitch and on Tuesday Bryan McLoughlin came down from Royal Belfast Academical Institution for continuity; good clearing-out techniques and stuff like that. After that we split and did a backs session which was quite sharp.

On Wednesday we did team patterns and defence work, but being team announcement day there was obviously mixed emotions. I thought fellas trained well given conditions were poor. There's a seriously talented back line there now, but the main man is still Brian. He's just so consistent as a trainer and a player, and that's important, because standards could slip but at the minute they're not, and I think that's a result of his presence and his experience.

It's not just the starting team. Hoggy (Anthony Horgan) is looking sharp in training, so is Tommy Bowe. Maggsy's (Kevin Maggs) has been left out of the 22 for the first time in a long while which is disappointing for a lot of fellas because he's a character, and Quinny's (Alan Quinlan) not around.

I've shared some emotions with him over the years and I'd regard him as one of my best mates. The inclusion of Denis Leamy is no surprise to me. He's just a dog of a player and has all the skills.

Competition for places is incredible.

And Eddie (O'Sullivan) has made us aware of that. You've got to appreciate if you're playing or involved this weekend, the same as any other weekend, but it really shows you the quality of player we have when Johnny (O'Connor) is left out this time.

Myself, Humphs (David Humphreys) and Mark Tainton went up to Lansdowne Road on Thursday for some kicking practice, along with Geordan (Murphy) and Girvan (Dempsey). There's a new Mitre ball this weekend, and it doesn't seem very consistent from ball to ball. Distance-wise, there's probably a difference of 10 or 15 metres from the posts.

After training yesterday morning, we travelled in the afternoon and a few us will go for a bit of kicking at the ground today.

There isn't much to do away from training. You're free time is at night really. You might watch a soccer game or go down to the bunker (the video room) and if there's anything on your mind from the day's training have a look over that.

You need time to switch off too. A few of us watched the Arsenal versus Manchester United match on Tuesday.

I'm a Liverpool man, and I'm a Roy Keane man. It's more than a Cork thing. I think any sportsman would have him on the top of their list. He's inspiring. Everything: his desire, his will to win, his grit and determination. His bust-up with Patrick Vieira sums up the man; that he won't stand for it and he won't accept second best. He's a joy to watch.

There's big excitement about this Six Nations, and I suppose that can go one of two ways. Mess up in your first two games, and you're complete villains, or if you win your first two games the pressure is only going to get worse.

So you can't avoid these things, you go with them, but once you start your warm-up on game day, these things aren't an issue.

It'll be physical with the Italians, it always is. With Mauro Bergamasco there, you can be sure it will be tough around the fringes, and they're at home, so it's important in the first half-hour that we don't play too much behind their pack.

It's going to take a while and a fair bit of effort to wear them down.

So much of how we perform as a back line depends on the forwards, and it's a credit to them that we beat teams like England and South Africa, because they got the better of them up front.

Lay the platform for victory. Unless you get that, you're looking at a long day in Rome.

With Italy there's always that little bit of the unknown, more so than any other team in the Six Nations. That uncertainty can eat at you a small bit, so we just have to focus on ourselves.

For me personally, the plan is to aim high but start with caution. Get the basics right, with a different ball, and then hopefully free up the backs and create as much as possible. We have our game plan but I think the important thing is that we play the game as we see it too.

Trust your instincts.

(in an interview with Gerry Thornley).