Ireland’s talismanic centre was in London for yesterday’s Rugby World Cup 2015 pool draw in his capacity as current national captain and saw his side grouped with top seeds France as well as Italy in a mini-Six Nations round robin.

Yet when the World Cup kicks off in England in three years, O’Driscoll, who is 34 next month, said he would not be there as a player.

“My World Cup ship has sailed but I’ll be there as Ireland’s number one supporter,” O’Driscoll said.

“I think it’s fair to say I’m not going to make it. If I did I’d be as shocked as you would be, so it’s best if I just say, no, it’s highly unlikely.”

O’Driscoll is currently fighting his way back from an ankle injury that ruled him out of the November internationals and while it will come as no surprise that he won’t stretch his illustrious career into a fourth World Cup campaign, it is the first time the Ireland captain has said so.

The totemic centre sees a specialist today to determine more precisely his comeback date from the ankle surgery he underwent last month and despite his contract with the IRFU running out next June he said he will not be drawn on a retirement date until he has started playing again for Leinster.

Asked for his return date, he said: “Sometime in the new year. I don’t know, at the moment I couldn’t put a week on it. I’ll see the specialist tomorrow and I’ll know a bit more then, hopefully.”

As for retirement, O’Driscoll added: “I haven’t even wanted to contemplate what’s next yet because I’m not playing, it’s hard to talk about that when you’re not playing.

“So when I get into Six Nations camp, hopefully getting back playing and see how that works out, see how the body feels – see whether that... it’s funny, I was sitting there today, and still I was enthusiastic.

“A little bit of you was resigned to the fact that you’re not going to be there [at the next World Cup], but it doesn’t mean you don’t want to be.

“It’s just the body can only last so long and we’ll see how much longer I can get out of it. If I’m still at the level I need to be at to play international and play rugby, I’ll continue playing because I still enjoy it.

“But I need to know when to call it a day as well, I need to listen to this,” he said, pointing to his body.

The last time O’Driscoll pulled on a green jersey was in June when he presided over Ireland’s record test defeat to New Zealand, that 60-0 hammering in Hamilton and the Irish face the very real prospect of facing the All Blacks in a World Cup quarter-final in 2015 should they fail to upset the odds by beating France. Assuming they beat Italy, defeat to France would mean the runner-up spot and a last-eight date with probable Group C winners New Zealand.

Beating the French and winning Group D would see them most likely play Argentina, the side they beat impressively on November 24 at the Aviva Stadium.

“It could have been a hell of a lot worse,” O’Driscoll said of the draw.

“There’s a flip side to it too. If you drew New Zealand in our group and France were in Group C you’re potentially looking at France in the quarter-finals as opposed to playing New Zealand in a quarter-final by coming second. So it’s double-edged but we can beat all the teams in our pool and a few of them could beat us so, if you go and speak to the French and Italians they’ll be quietly happy they drew us too.”

Still, O’Driscoll was impressed by the way Kidney’s depleted and inexperienced Ireland side finished their autumn Tests and the manner of the seven-try victory over the Pumas gives him optimism.

“Yeah, I think we’re in a good place, I think we’ve learned a lot. By the sounds of things it was a good camp in November, a lot of positivity came from the guys that came out of it.

“Obviously I think hard work was rewarded with the big performance against Argentina when we needed it. It got us that more favourable draw today in the top eight, the level of that importance can’t be understated.

“But I think that’s a good foundation for us to kick on too and try to improve on our performance, get a good level of consistency about our game. That’s where we need to go.”