The 33-year-old was part of the side that suffered a 60-0 loss at the hands of the All Blacks in June, after they had finished the RBS 6 Nations in third place with defeats to Wales and England.

It marks a huge contrast to Ireland’s Six Nations Grand Slam win in 2009 with a crisis meeting called last month at Lansdowne Road.

Declan Kidney has convened his squad for a two-day training camp ahead of the new season which begins in November with Ireland taking on South Africa and Argentina at the Aviva Stadium, and O’Driscoll admits Ireland are feeling the pressure.

“There is a pressure on us to perform and get back to the standards we expect of ourselves,” O’Driscoll told the Irish Independent.

“I am a big believer in performances looking after results rather than being results-driven.

“If you’re performing well, you get that knock-on effect in terms of the team confidence and momentum.

“We have to make sure when we spend time together in camp like this we enjoy it again. Any time we have been successful, we have built a unity as a team and a squad.

“It doesn’t happen by accident. You have to constantly work at it. We’re getting there and the meeting last month will help that no end.

“Sometimes you just need to be honest with each other. A lot of really good things were said at that meeting.

“It’s not that you go through the motions being with Ireland. But sometimes it’s good to take stock of how lucky you are and what you’re actually involved in.

“Maybe we were guilty of taking the fact that we were representing our country for granted and one should never do that.”