Before Ulster hosted Munster in the Pro 12 on Friday night, Brian O'Driscoll took up his usual spot on Newstalk's 'Off The Ball' to give, among other things, his view on the Ireland squad that will take on the All Blacks next month.
Naturally, the conversation turned back to that match in 2013 where Ireland were so agonisingly close to defeating New Zealand, only to be beaten by two points with the very last kick of the game.
O'Driscoll missed the final 25 minutes of that match after taking a blow to the head, and it was very clear that he still holds great frustration at having been unable to play.
Nigel Owens, the referee that ordered O'Driscoll off the pitch that day, had come in for criticism in the past for allowing BOD to continue against France despite clearly being dazed, but this time he got it right, as O'Driscoll reluctantly admitted before expressing his frustration at not being able to help his team.
It was the right call, reluctantly I'd say it's the right call, but it doesn't mean that I wasn't very annoyed with him at the time and retrospectively it doesn't make it any easier going ya'know "Doc, well done, thanks for looking after me", I would have loved, even in that semi-dazed state to get back out there.
Because you can do nothing from the side of the pitch, and maybe I could have made an impact or maybe I could have done something, even giving away a penalty at the end to stem that flow of black jerseys coming at us.
I was helpless on the side of the pitch. I was 25 minutes off the pitch by full time.
I tried to bargain, but I knew, I could tell when I was going off the pitch for the HIA, "he's not gonna let me back on here." It largely stemmed from the previous incident, he wasn't going to be seen as the guy that made that error again.
O'Driscoll then clarified why the he was allowed back into the France match the first time, stating that the referee failed to see him struggling while dealing with another player, and when he came to talk to him, he managed to see the scoreboard over the ref's shoulder and correctly answer questions regarding the score and time.
He was then asked by Ger Gilroy, after all the defeats he suffered for Ireland, was that the worst one? His answer was immediately clear.
Yeah.
Yeah it is, yeah. Just because no team had managed to do it before, for the England grand slam we weren't within a bulls roar, the defeat to Wales in the World Cup in 2011 was a nasty one, I'd probably say that's second to the All Black game.
You'd have to think he would have made a huge difference, if not with a score or big defensive play, then in game management where he would have done something to stop what proved to be unstoppable.
Sadly we'll never know, but it shows just how much O'Driscoll cares about that green jersey when he's still frustrated talking about it after his retirement.
You can listen to O'Driscoll on 'Off The Ball' in full over on Newstalk.com
