Maggs takes centre stage for 50th cap

IRISH centres Kevin Maggs and Brian O’Driscoll swapped roles yesterday, with the no-nonsense Bath man buried under a sea of eulogies from his captain.

Maggs becomes the third Irishman in as many matches to win his 50th cap, after David Humphreys and Malcolm O’Kelly, and will lead the side out to an ear-shattering roar from 49,500 fans crammed into Lansdowne Road on Sunday.

“Maggsy is in the best form of his life,” said O’Driscoll. “Now that he has become a senior player in the Irish side, I think he has come out of himself and started leading from the front which is exactly what we needed from him. I’m not sure how many people have won 50 caps for Ireland but it’s a huge milestone for him and I think it’s very apt that he should lead the team out.

“He has a huge amount of attributes to his game. His physical presence on the pitch, I suppose, is what he is best known for but he’s got some sublime touches. Fair enough, his kicking game mightn’t be up there with Humps and Rog, but his all-round game is very strong and defensively I don’t know if there are any better centres in the world.”

Given O’Driscoll’s admiration, it was inevitable that Maggs should respond in kind.

“I’ve watched him come in as a kind of wiry schoolboy to the training sessions and progress now until in my view he is the best centre in the game,” he responded. “He showed that with the Lions and I’m sure the best is still to come. As a captain, he is different from Keith Wood but very good. He’s got everybody’s respect, everybody looks up to him, everybody respects what he says and does. Basically he inspires everybody to turn in a good performance.”

O’Driscoll, of course, was a Lions teammate of the majority England’s XV for Sunday and holds Jonny Wilkinson and Will Greenwood in particularly high regard. He described Wilkinson as a “very easy going person with whom I got on very well. He is well focused on his game and his life pretty much revolves around that. I respect him highly. He is one of two top tens in the world along with Andrew Mehrtens.

“Everybody knows about his kicking but there are no weaknesses in his game. Having played alongside him, the one thing that stood out for me was his incredible distribution. He could throw 15-metre passes right on the money and that’s what puts people through spaces. On top of that, he’s probably the best place kicker in the world and so we’re working on our system of not giving away the penalties.

“Will speaks his mind and has probably got himself into trouble in the past but you’ve got to respect people who say what they think. He is a fantastic player and a game breaker on his day.”