The Irishmen were looking to become the first side to win three titles in a row during the Six Nations era having claimed back-to-back triumphs in 2023 and 2024.
It started well enough with wins over England, Scotland and Wales, but their hopes were brutally ended by France, who thrashed the hosts 42-27 at the Aviva Stadium.
Simon Easterby’s men then followed that up with a subpar display in Rome as they edged to a 22-17 victory over Italy at the Stadio Olimpico.
Ireland’s issues
Ireland were very close to succumbing to a shock defeat and O’Driscoll felt that the campaign exposed several deficiencies.
While most people have focused on the attacking side of their game during the Six Nations, the 46-year-old also reckons that they should be worried defensively.
“I think it’s not just the attack, defensively there’s definitely an issue between the Leinster defensive system and having so many players involved, and the lack of correlation between what they’re trying to do defensively at Ireland,” he told Off The Ball.
“It almost feels as though they’re nearly retraining themselves into the Ireland system, but yet muscle memory has them doing some of the Leinster components.