Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt has revealed that Brian O'Driscoll asked to be ruled out of the running for the captaincy this time around.

Schmidt said “it was a difficult decision” for O'Driscoll who had to think about family and his post-playing career.

O'Driscoll held the captaincy for a decade before Declan Kidney handed it to Jamie Heaslip prior to the 2013 Six Nations.

But he will retire from the game at the end of the current season.

However, the Leinster centre will start the game against Samoa.

Schmidt has chosen Paul O'Connell as the new captain, with Leinster's Jamie Heaslip the vice-captain.

At the Carton House press conference, Heaslip admitted his disappointment to lose out to O'Connell, but knows that he ha still got an important role to play for his country...

©INPHO/Dan Sheridan