A feelgood finale as brightest Irish star of them all ticks final box
It was 10 months ago that Ireland’s greatest rugby player had decided to delay retirement and give it one more season. He had heard the incessant chants of “One More Year” from the RDS and Aviva Stadium stands, glanced at an autumn fixture list that included one last tilt at New Zealand and seen the chance to atone for a desperately disappointing 2013 Six Nations.
That and the promotion of Joe Schmidt from Leinster to Ireland coach provided all the incentive to push his battered body through a final campaign.
On Saturday night at Stade de France, as he made his 133rd and last appearance for Ireland, taking him to a world record 141 Tests including his Lions appearances, that decision was fully vindicated, the career extension rewarded with a second, long overdue Six Nations title.
There have been plenty of special days in green for O’Driscoll, from that magical hat-trick of tries in the same stadium 14 years ago, via the Grand Slam in 2009 and even to as recently as last week, when he showed there was still plenty of life in the old dog by turning in a man-of-the-match performance against Italy in his Aviva Stadium send-off.
A week on and he was pulling on that No.13 jersey for a final time with Schmidt on hand to remind him what he already knew, that there was one more box to tick.
“I don’t know if he cried,” the Ireland boss said, as he recalled the moment. “I just tapped him on the shoulder and said ‘It’s a special day, you don’t know how many special days you’re going to get in a career or in a lifetime’, before telling O’Driscoll’s team-mates: “’This guy’s had some special ones but he’d love for this one to be particularly special. Let’s make sure we do the best we can to make sure that happens’.”
An hour after the job had been done, O’Driscoll was not showing any signs of removing that now iconic shirt, reticent to make the gesture that would confirm he was an ex-international, albeit with a smile on his face.
“Just sheer delight,” was the way he described his emotions. “I played on for one more year and was hopeful to get a victory against the All Blacks but it didn’t happen. And to win a Six Nations, and that did happen. You can’t have it all but you take the bits that you get. I don’t want to take this jersey off yet because I know when I take it off that will be the last time. But it will come with a great sense of happiness that I have finished on a great high after a lot of nearlys.”
There was one more nearly moment, when Andrew Trimble led a breakout from the Irish half with O’Driscoll in support and only full-back Brice Dulin between them and the try line. The wing moved the ball outside to O’Driscoll as a stadium held its collective breath in anticipation of the ending beyond dreams but the centre cut inside and went into contact, his rugby brain overriding the heart as Ireland recycled a couple of times and scored through Johnny Sexton.
“I thought I might get in,” O’Driscoll said. “In fairness, myself and Trimbs were talking about how Dulin defended it brilliantly. He stayed off and off.
“I knew I didn’t have the gas to burn him on the outside so I checked back in and Medard got back.
“Then I tried to offload it to him but it just jammed on me. There was a realisation that we had severed their line and just needed to play a phase or two to score.
“I think Paul (O’Connell, although it was Chris Henry) then picked and jammed and then Conor (Murray) ran across and Johnno picked a great line.
“It was important to have a potency when we got into their 22 and I think we managed that better than we did in certain games throughout the Six Nations.”
O’Driscoll may have played his last game for Ireland but he believes the team graced for 15 years is in good hands under Schmidt.
“We know what way we want to play the game and I think there is big accountability. That was far from a perfect performance when the guys review it and thankfully I won’t be part of that. They will look back on it and try to improve the things that went wrong. We are always a work in progress and I think he has instilled a big confidence in those around him with his philosophy, game-plan strategy and detail. People buy into that product. Coupled with the natural ability of the guys playing today, I think that’s a good formula.”
And with that analysis, he was gone, not with a tear but as he admitted, a frog in his throat and the backing from Schmidt that he would make an excellent coach one day.
“I think he’d be good at whatever he does,” Schmidt said. “I think in the short-term that’s probably househusband but in the long term, I think he’d make a great coach. He’s intelligent, he’s got great values, he’s hard-working, he’s a great role model and he knows the game inside out. Certainly I’ve learned a lot from him.”
He will, of course, be greatly missed in the Test arena and in particular the Six Nations, a championship in which he made the most starts, 65, played the most minutes, 5,072, captained more than any other player, 41, and scored the most tries, 26. Maybe not greatly missed by everyone, though. France coach Philippe Saint-Andre bade Ireland’s greatest player an entirely happy adieu on Saturday and looked forward to a Six Nations without him.
“In the end it’s O’Driscoll that decides the tournament and leaves his last match with the trophy, congratulations to Ireland and Brian O’Driscoll,” Saint-Andre said. “I look forward to playing Ireland next year in the Six Nations. Next year Brian O’Driscoll will not be here, so maybe the god of rugby will be on our side.”
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