"I'll be grand in another 24 hours," Ireland's leading try-scorer said. "I just get a bit of vertigo now and then. I haven't had it for a while.

"The last real memory of having it was the night we won the Grand Slam and I couldn't go to the dinner. It just came on and I was getting sick that time.

"I just felt a little bit dizzy last night and went to bed and felt a bit better this morning. I took a bit more medication and I'll be grand."

O'Driscoll stayed behind at the team hotel while the team had their captain's run at Yarrow Stadium.

His midfield partner Gordon D'Arcy was another who sat out the run, but coach Declan Kidney was not unduly concerned two of his leading players were not involved in the team's last session ahead of the one-off Test with the world number one side.

He said: "Our captain's run is just a way of getting the body up. You don't want to be hanging around the hotel for 48 hours before a match.

"We ask guys how they are feeling and if it's prudent for them to run out they do that. Friday is just a case of keeping the body ticking over for Saturday."

Saturday's game is a big one for the Irish who have not beaten New Zealand in 22 previous attempts.

They have come close - a 10-10 draw in 1973 - and on their most recent trips to the Shaky Isles in 2006 and 2008 when they were well in the hunt until the final quarter.

In horrendous conditions in Wellington two years ago the teams were tied 8-8 at half-time and it took a try from Ma'a Nonu in the 64th minute to turn the match in New Zealand's favour.

Having been on the wrong end against the All Blacks seven times in his career O'Driscoll knows exactly what it will take from the men in green to triumph this weekend.

"You've got to play one of your better games in an Irish jersey collectively, not just seven or eight of us. Everyone has to combine for a really good performance," he said.

"In the past we've put in good performances for 50 or 60 minutes and not been able to complete the full 80. That's the big test.

"Anytime we've been in with a shout we've taken the foot off or New Zealand have put extra pressure on us in the last 20 and they've come good."

All Blacks forwards coach Steve Hansen has been talking up his pack this week, claiming they will physically dominate the Irish forwards.

"We haven't had massive discussions about it but it's been mentioned," O'Driscoll said of Irish reaction to Hansen's bold statement.

"I'm sure people deal with it in their own way. Certainly if someone makes mention of a midfield pairing getting the better of myself and D'Arcy you'll always keep that in the back of your mind and try and use that as motivation."