BOD ‘the guy first out of the trenches’

The thing about Brian is ...

He may appear, in the mind of at least one rugby analyst, to be “half cyborg” but whether he’s man, machine or a bit of both, Brian O’Driscoll is back to his best, and maybe even better, following the surgery that decimated his season.

At 33, the Ireland captain and outside centre may be in the twilight seasons of his illustrious career but he is playing at a level every bit as impressive as that which earned him the British & Irish Lions captaincy in 2005 and a magazine’s accolade of World Rugby Player of the Decade for the noughties. At least that is the view of Sky Sports analysts Stuart Barnes, Dewi Morris, Paul Wallace and Tyrone Howe as they look forward to seeing O’Driscoll take to the Twickenham stage on Saturday when Leinster defend their Heineken Cup title against Ulster.