Brian O'Driscoll Appreciation Thread

carrollmark

Dunno if this has been done before or not ... but I think its a good idea ...

We're lucky enough to be living through Irish rugbys greatest era and its produced dozens of fantastic performances, unforgettable moments, heartbreak and exceptional players ...

Lets indulge ourselves and wallow in some of the great players we've been lucky enough to have represent us ...

I'll start with the cream of the crop.

On the back of O'Driscoll being voted World Player of the Decade by Rugby World Magazine and his exceptional ten years for Leinster, Ireland and The Lions, I'm inviting Boardies to discuss ...

Their favourite O'Driscoll moments

What makes him special

Any anecdotes or encounters with him

Anything that comes to mind

Lets try keep it positive ... same can be done for anyone else ... Rog, Paul O'Connell, Keith Wood etc

phog

Whew, when I saw the thread title I thought he had died.

carrollmark

phog wrote: »

Whew, when I saw the thread title I thought he had died.

Lol ....

Yeah sorry, now that you say it, it might provoke that thought.

Anyway, you're forgetting ... he's immortal!

Interested to hear what Munster fans view of him is .... I always thought he was the perfect combination of Leinster flair and Munster guts

thomond2006

carrollmark wrote: »

Interested to hear what Munster fans view of him is .... I always thought he was the perfect combination of Leinster flair and Munster guts

Don't like your generalisation, both Munster and Leinster have flair and guts.

I don't think Munster/Ulster/Connacht fans' view of O'Driscoll would be any different to Leinster fans either.

He is the greatest outside centre of the professional era. Few come close but none are equal.

carrollmark

thomond2006 wrote: »

Don't like your generalisation, both Munster and Leinster have flair and guts.

I don't think Munster/Ulster/Connacht fans' view of O'Driscoll would be any different to Leinster fans either.

He is the greatest outside centre of the professional era. Few come close but none are equal.

Yeah fair enough, but I'm deliberatly dealing in the long held stereotype there to praise the player.

Theres not many I can think of that combine his genius, and his incredible appetite for hard work and bravery that verges on recklessness at times.

Beyond just stating the obvious that he's the best outside centre in the modern era, I'm genuinely interested in peoples personal memories of him that stick with them

Quint

I remember a load of us staying in my mates gaff after the pub, he had sky sports. We wanted to get up and watch this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaDz4rGMdVM

Keith Wood was amazing that game too

Edit: I think Keith Wood made a comically bad attempt at a drop goal (even wood was laughing at it!) but after the game, the sky sports panel were saying if he made it, it would have been the best lions performances of all time! Great game for Irish fans

carrollmark

Great contribution Quint!

One of my favourite rugby moments ever.

How he found the space to slip through the first attempted tackles and then sidestep the fullback I'll never know.

Pure magic

mark renton

are yiz having a laugh - sure he won person of the year and didnt deserve that, now the boy done good but cmon

carrollmark

Start a seperate thread about the people of the year awards if you feel that strongly.

Quint

john47832 wrote: »

are yiz having a laugh - sure he won person of the year and didnt deserve that, now the boy done good but cmon

If he was Time Magazine person of the year, nobel prize winner and knighted, that still wouldn't be enough recognition that the man deserves

FunnyStuff

There is alot of moments that come to mind, i think his work all round the field has made him probably the best outside centre of the modern era. I find it hard to pick one particular moment, his try for the Lions in Australia still makes the hair stand on the back of my neck. But for me some of his best moments are in defense, tackle against South Africa in the last minute at Croker case in point. All in all he's an inspiration to any up and coming young player. Thanks for the memories Brian.

mark renton

Quint wrote: »

If he was Time Magazine person of the year, nobel prize winner and knighted, that still wouldn't be enough recognition that the man deserves

:rolleyes:

I see some reality is required here - he helped the Irish rugby team win the football version of the European championship (with 6 teams competing) now the boy played well, captain fantastic - but there were greater achievements throughout the sporting year - Bernard Dunne won a world title and ruby walsh rode 7 winners at cheltenham

carrollmark

More to come hopefully!

I do worry sometimes about how much he puts his body on the line, his head in particular.

The number of serious head clashes and potential concussive strikes he's had couldnt be good for him, and hopefully he wont suffer in later life for his bravery.

England in Croker 2009 and the Lions last year spring to mind

carrollmark

john47832 wrote: »

:rolleyes:

I see some reality is required here - he helped the Irish rugby team win the football version of the European championship (with 6 teams competing) now the boy played well, captain fantastic - but there were greater achievements throughout the sporting year - Bernard Dunne won a world title and ruby walsh rode 7 winners at cheltenham

Yeah

But he's been genuinely world class for 10 years, and has maybe 3 more left.

I dont think captaining a Grand Slam winning team, being the de facto captain of the Heineken Cup winning team and and one of the top players in an unlucky Lions team is trivial.

More impressive than Dunne or Walsh, but thats not really the point of the thread is it.

mark renton

carrollmark wrote: »

Yeah

But he's been genuinely world class for 10 years, and has maybe 3 more left.

I dont think captaining a Grand Slam winning team, being the de facto captain of the Heineken Cup winning team and and one of the top players in an unlucky Lions team is trivial.

More impressive than Dunne or Walsh, but thats not really the point of the thread is it.

not trivial at all - as i said the boy done good, but didnt do it all single handed

and yes we should see to renaming the thread, can one of the mods do that?

Quint

john47832 wrote: »

:rolleyes:

I see some reality is required here - he helped the Irish rugby team win the football version of the European championship (with 6 teams competing) now the boy played well, captain fantastic - but there were greater achievements throughout the sporting year - Bernard Dunne won a world title and ruby walsh rode 7 winners at cheltenham

Ah yeah, sure the rugby version of the European Championship is nothing! And we win grand slams all the time everyone remembers 1948 like it was yesterday.
Bernard Dunne did well in that fight, but we had more boxing champions in the last 60 years than grand slams. And no one gives a shíte about horse racing, sure ruby has 1500 wins at this stage. When the goverment spends over half the entire sporting budget on horse racing you expect results.

And you seem to be forgetting the Heineken Cup. If you're making comparisons to football to make it seem trivial, don't bother. Imagine Robbie Keane being irelands captain to win the European Championship, and also being Spurs stand out player for their Champions League victory. Scoring a fantastic goal to knock out Arsenal in the semis.
To refresh your memory:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOniv9rWWf8

thehighground

Quint wrote: »

And you seem to be forgetting the Heineken Cup. If you're making comparisons to football to make it seem trivial, don't bother. Imagine Robbie Keane being irelands captain to win the European Championship, and also being Spurs stand out player for their Champions League victory. Scoring a fantastic goal to knock out Arsenal in the semis.

Actually, when you put it that way, BOD must feel very, very lucky that he played in an international team that were good enough to qualify for European championships - unlike Roy Keane who played at and captained the most successful and best known football club in the world for a decade and never got to play in a European championship.

yeraulone

john47832 wrote: »

not trivial at all - as i said the boy done good, but didnt do it all single handed

and yes we should see to renaming the thread, can one of the mods do that?

So did Ruby Walsh do it single handedly as well?

no wait... he was on a horse.

mark renton

i was comparing to football to get some perspective on the achievement, it was a european championship with 5 competitors if you include italy and scotland - im in full agreement, drico is a legend, but have his own appreciation thread on boards?? :eek: not for me - not unless we win world cup

Quint

thehighground wrote: »

Actually, when you put it that way, BOD must feel very, very lucky that he played in an international team that were good enough to qualify for European championships - unlike Roy Keane who played at and captained the most successful and best known football club in the world for a decade.

Never knew Keane captain Real Madrid?
Anyway, this thread is a celebration of probably the best rugby player Ireland has produced. We should be proud and glad to have him, not try and knock him. Maybe start an "odriscoll isn't any good" thread?

Back on topic, if you weren't at croker, you were out of your seat shouting at your tv at this point: vintage O'Driscoll!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMEJrG6SB_w

yeraulone

john47832 wrote: »

i was comparing to football to get some perspective on the achievement, it was a european championship with 5 competitors if you include italy and scotland - im in full agreement, drico is a legend, but have his own appreciation thread on boards?? :eek: not for me - not unless we win world cup

eh... welcome to the rugby forum!?!

mark renton

yeraulone wrote: »

eh... welcome to the rugby forum!?!

thank you

Spore

Ah the Bodmeister.

Met him once at a certain pub he's known to frequent on Christmas Eve.
I was quite inebriated at the time (prob working up the Dutch courage to go and meet my hero - note to self: you should never meet your hero) So I finally get my big chance to shake the guys hand (there's a queue of fella's from the neighbourhood he grew up in who take up most of the Bodmeister's time every year while trying to pretend he's nothing special, just one of the lads they grew up with - yeah right) I get my big moment (pissed now) and this is how it went (while shaking his hand):

Spore: Hey Brian, tell your da I said hello
BOD: WTF? How do you know my dad?
Spore: He told us how to wash our cocks.
BOD: /

Bod's dad did indeed tell us young lads how to wash our cocks back in school. Frank O Driscoll was / is (he might have retired now) a GP that went around giving men's health talks at the local secondary schools. Very funny he was too, all about the washing it and pulling back of the old... you know. And anecdotes about fellas sticking pencils up their japs eyes.

Yeah, you should never meet your heroes...

OldJay

john47832 wrote: »

:rolleyes:

I see some reality is required here - he helped the Irish rugby team win the football version of the European championship (with 6 teams competing) now the boy played well, captain fantastic - but there were greater achievements throughout the sporting year - Bernard Dunne won a world title and ruby walsh rode 7 winners at cheltenham

Bernard Dunne won his title . . . for himself. Was great fight then he met his match
Ruby Walsh raced . . . for himself. Not Ireland.

Brian O'Driscoll captained Ireland and led the most successful Irish professional sporting team ever to win a title that Ireland hadn't won since 1948 with performances that just got better and better. His provincial and Lions performances were also top drawer.

anonymous_joe

john47832 wrote: »

not trivial at all - as i said the boy done good, but didnt do it all single handed

and yes we should see to renaming the thread, can one of the mods do that?

Ah in fairness, that was as close to single handed as you'll see in team sports.

Anyway:

anonymous_joe

Add that to my last post.

Diamondmaker

Too many to list but in particular he made a habit of getting single handed tries at and close to the death, to turn a game our way. Just when perhaps 29 players on the field were physically and mentally flagging he has so regularly and consistently come up with the goods.

Most recently I guess was that class example versus Oz.

I also love his cheeky pass to himself behind Hickies back versus Ulster a few years back, would have been some try if he had the gas to finish it.

lass but definitely not least and it will be much trickier to find youtube examples of these are that he has made so many monster tackles which lead to turnovers and often even a head knock to him, with his almost reckless and ferocious tackling. ( eg last tackle Versus SA and a classic tackle on POC versus Munster )

His mix of intelligence on and off the filed, an ability to lead ( what appears to the public eye anyway ) a well balanced and normal life and his immense talents and physical attributes as a player lead me to having the most immense respect for the guy.

Not many sports mix such physical, athletic and mental skills in the same way as top level rugby. He truly has a mastery of such an array of talents that has made us all lucky to behold his legend that is.

toomevara

Done to death on innumerable threads. He's a phenomenon, we all know it, end of. Locked, and no more of same thanks.