Brian O'Driscoll revealed that his fellow Ireland legend Ronan O'Gara tried to convince him to sign for Munster in 2006.
The Leinster legend was 'definitely considering' a move to France in 2006. This was, in part, due to Leinster's disfunction prior to Michael Cheika taking over the reigns.
Armed with the knowledge that O'Driscoll did not have his mind fixed on remaining in Dublin, O'Gara struck up a conversation in the Ireland camp with his national captain to try and convince him to move to Limerick.
O'Driscoll in red?
Speaking on Off The Ball, O'Driscoll revealed the details of this conversation and how close he was to signing for his provincial rivals.
"ROG was onto me in '06 before they won Europe saying, 'do you want to come down here?'," O'Driscoll said. "I was like, 'what?!'
"It was kind of tentative. He'll say, 'ah I was never properly asking', but he was definitely hedging his bets a small bit and enquiring as to whether I would have any interest at all.
"It was when we [Leinster] were in a bit of a [slump] in '05/'o6. We had four coaches in four years before [Michael] Cheika came in. The squad that he inherited was all over the shop."
"It was a conversation in camp," O'Driscoll said. "It wasn't a formal, 'I've got a contract here ready for you to sign', but it was a, 'would you think about coming down?'
"He definitely was asked to enquire. They probably were short a little bit over the course of the time where they lost in semifinals and finals in the centres, but then they got it together with Rua Tipoki and [Rob] Henderson in '07, but I think it was just prior to that.
"I said, 'I wouldn't, Ronan! I'm going to stay put'."
'I was definitely considering France'
While he did not have to think much more than two minutes about O'Gara's offer to join Munster, O'Driscoll did confirm that he was looking outside of Dublin for his rugby future in 2006.
"I was thinking about moving at that stage," O'Driscoll said. "I was definitely considering France as an option. Then when Cheika came in and we got to the semifinal that year, I thought if he can do that with an okay-at-best squad, what are we capable of doing if we pull it together?
"That's why I stayed at Leinster, but I was never thinking of moving to Munster. It was a hard no!"
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