A feature I wrote about the retiring Irish Rugby Legend, Brian O’Driscoll. March 2014.
The Mailer Report’s Matthew James Kirk pays tribute to an Irish and World Rugby Union legend
Aged 35, Brian O’Driscoll was instrumental in his last-ever home game at Lansdowne Road. He put Ireland 46 points past a lackluster Italian side and is now the most capped rugby player to grace the game. It was a fine home display, earning the much celebrated player his 132nd Irish cap on March 8.
He boasts 140 test caps, eight of these coming from four British and Irish Lions tours, and he played an integral part in the first three Irish tries – two of which were scored by his former Leinster teammate Jonathon Sexton.
Ireland now face a trip to Paris, where they will be looking to capitalize on their points advantage over England in the group table, ultimately sending O’Driscoll out of professional rugby with a Six Nations championship title to add to his many other accolades and trophies.
Where It Began
O’Driscoll’s rugby career started at schoolboy level when he attended the prestigious Blackrock College in Dublin. Having been a keen Gaelic footballer as a child, O’Driscoll, much like most Blackrock schoolboys, developed a great passion for union.
His breakthrough came in 1996 when the college’s first team recruited him for the Irish school’s competition. O’Driscoll started most games but was dropped before the run in towards the final, where he was an unused substitute, but nonetheless part of Leo Cullen’s cup winning team.
The later break came in 1997, where he captained Blackrock in the same competition. However, they were knocked out in the quarter final to smaller Irish school Clongowes. It’s safe to say O’Driscoll’s first rugby experience didn’t set a precedent.
The Irishman was capped three times by Irish schools from 1996, and by 1998, he was an integral part of Ireland’s under-19 world championship winning side. He was discovered two years later, when he played senior international rugby for the Irish side.
A year on from winning his first Leinster cap, B.O.D. was promoted to the Irish national side. However, his debut was tarnished with a similar heir of misfortune to those of the Blackrock days, as Ireland suffered a 46-10 loss to a fiery Australian side. It is a fatuitous coincidence that in his last home game, Ireland would score a similar 46 points to that of Australia 14 years ago.
After scoring a hat-trick in Ireland’s first win in Paris since 1972, O’Driscoll has become something of a world icon. He has been to the Irish rugby team, what Lomu was to New Zealand and Ryan Giggs is to Manchester United – essential.
Ups and Downs
“Beating England at home, 2005 to 2011, four on the bounce, they were big victories because of the caliber of the team you were playing against. Australia, South Africa too.”
Besides talent, respect for big occasions and bigger sides has remained one of O’Driscoll’s biggest attributes throughout his career. Undoubtedly one of the greatest back line players to grace the game, the humble Irishman described his career highs in front of the world, a week before his departure from the International stage: “Beating England at home, 2005 to 2011, four on the bounce, they were big victories because of the caliber of the team you were playing against. Australia, South Africa too”.
Like any modern day rugby player, B.O.D. has had his ups and downs. The most famous down came in the Lions tour drama he experienced in 2005, and most recently in 2013. In the first test of the 2005 Lions test against New Zealand, O’Driscoll captained a side consisting of a large number of England world cup winners from 2003. Within the first 10 minutes of the game however, the prestige of being Ireland’s first Lions captain since Willie John McBride came crashing to an unassailable end when Tana Umaga and Kevin Mealamu, double teamed O’Driscoll in an off the ball spear tackle, dislocating his shoulder and putting him out of the Lions tour for another four years. The Lions lost the series and O’Driscoll was coined a hero for his resilience in the face of a tour wrecking challenge.
Eight years on, O’Driscoll re-visited the Southern Hemisphere with the Lions, and having played the first two tests with typical O’Driscoll flair, was controversially dropped by Warren Gatland, who favoured a predominantly Welsh team for the final test. The outrage was not just from the Irish, with key ex-Lions players such as Jeremy Gusgott calling for a rethink.
The 83-time captain of Ireland had also achieved many accolades throughout his career – a world champion at under 19’s level, four Triple Crown trophies, a Grand Slam, three Heineken Cup trophies, four tours with the British and Irish Lions and other personal achievements such as being named Rugby World Magazine’s player of the decade from the year 2000 – 2009. He has also received an honorary doctorate from the University College of Dublin, a school that offered the potential for a scholarship after his Blackrock days.
B.O.D. Is God
Fourteen years after his debut against world champions Australia, Brian O’Driscoll is calling it a day. As one of the most decorated rugby players to ever play the great game, he is putting on his custom made Adidas boots for the last time in Paris next weekend, a place where his first experience of Irish glory happened.
It will be an emotional exit to rugby, and the game won’t be one to miss as it falls on the weekend before St Patrick’s Day! Irish passions will be running high, and the rugby world, no matter the nationality, will be wishing O’Driscoll produces his best to finish his illustrious career.
What lies in store for Brian O’Driscoll? Only time will tell, but one thing is for sure – the world of rugby will miss one of the most talented players to ever grace the game. He may be leaving the sport behind, but we shall undoubtedly see his face around for many years to come.
Brian O’Driscoll – a true sporting legend and one of the best, what a privilege to have lived through his playing career.
Matthew James Kirk
Booms PR 