"It's win or bust,” said the Irish skipper.

“We thought we were capable of beating Australia but it doesn't make it any different about having to beat Italy on the last day."

Munster scrum half Conor Murray has been promoted to first choice number nine in what is the biggest test of his fledgling international career. O’Driscoll, however, is confident that the Garryowen man can take the pressure.

"He's new to it but he's dealing with it very well. He's a confident young man and he's shown to be very much in his depth in these surroundings. You wouldn't know he's not even had a handful of Test matches under his belt.

"He goes about his business; he's a hard worker and a nice young fella. What's not to like about that?"

Once the whipping boys of European rugby, the Azzurri have made steady progress in the last few seasons and O’Driscoll concedes that they are becoming more difficult to defeat as the seasons go by.

"Each game (against Italy) has been getting harder and harder. We really had to pull it out of the bag to beat them in Rome this year. We have to make sure we're on our game on Sunday, and hopefully they'll have to deal with that."

Expectation of this Irish team has sky rocketed since the win over the Wallabies in Auckland a forthnight ago.

Should Ireland defeat the Italians then the sky seems the limit for Kidney’s side with O’Driscoll citing that victory as a seismic moment in the Irish campaign.

"I don't see how winning games increases the pressure on you. If anything we're a bit more relaxed in our skin, after the performance against Australia.”