Brian O'Driscoll has warned his Ireland side they face a battle of wills at Murrayfield where their status as heavy favourites will count for nothing.

A seventh successive victory over Scotland will see Eddie O'Sullivan's side claim their third Triple Crown in four years and also maintain their faint title hopes.

The stunning 43-13 rout of England suggested Ireland have finally clicked into gear in the 2007 RBS 6 Nations and it would take a major upset for them to leave Edinburgh empty-handed.

But O'Driscoll, who will be leading the side for a record equalling 36th time, insists the Scots will be ready to ambush his side if they fail to match their opponents' desire.

"I think overwhelming (favourites) would be a little strong," said the Lions skipper.

"Of course we are going to be favourites considering the results we've had but on occasions against Scotland, they have turned up wanting to win more than we did.

"Sometimes it's down to how people feel on the day and how much someone wants it on the day.

"That will to win can be pretty strong and if you have that in 15 guys, it's pretty hard to break them down irrespective of whether you are favourites or not."

Scotland undid their good work against Wales with an astonishing defeat by Italy that handed the Azzurri their first away win since entering the Six Nations in 2000.

A poor opening six minutes saw Italy capitalise on a trio of blunders to run in three converted tries and Frank Hadden's side never recovered, eventually collapsing 37-17.

"Scotland realised that Italy were going to come at them hard and fast. They tried to go around them," said O'Driscoll.

"I spoke to (Scotland captain) Chris Paterson and he said they knew that Italy were going to be flying up so they tried a pre-planned chip over the top in the first few minutes to keep them honest.

"It just shows that games can hinge on little moments like that. From there it went from bad to worse.

"I don't think they will have the same gameplan as they did against Italy because our defensive system is different.

"You have got to treat each team, each week differently and I think they'll do that."

Ireland face their first 1.30pm kick-off of this season's Six Nations at Murrayfield on Saturday and O'Driscoll admits his personal routine does not sit comfortably with the early start.

"I think it's a lot harder playing at 1.30pm. A lot of the guys have been used to playing the majority of games later," he said.

"Personally, I usually can't get to sleep the night before a game until I'm tired, which can be 1.30am or 2am.

"I like to have a nice lie-in as much as I can until 10.30am or 11.00am. But that's gone this time around, so I have to get myself to bed a bit earlier.

"You need to be up earlier because you have to get two meals inside you before the game.

"You have to get your walk through, which will probably take place at 10.30am.

"Everything just takes a step backwards. I've played in a handful of internationals at this time before and it's the same for both teams."

O'Driscoll will match the record set by Keith Wood for leading Ireland when he runs out at Murrayfield but the Leinster centre insists he has paid little attention to the statistic.

"I hadn't really thought about it too much. In fact, I hadn't really thought about it at all," he said.

"It'll be an honour to equal Fester (Keith Wood) but it's not something that I will dwell on too much."