Читать книгу Brian O'driscoll - Marcus Stead - Страница 5

Brian O’Driscoll was born on 21 January 1979 with rugby in his blood. He weighed in at 9lb 12oz and cried, it seemed, for months without stopping. It later transpired that this was due to hunger. Little did his parents know that he would actually turn out to be a shy and very quiet child.

His father, Frank, was a decent centre in his day, who has been described by his son as a mad kamikaze tackler with a good step and plenty of wheels. He had toured Argentina with Ireland in the 1970s and played in the ‘Tests’, but in those days caps weren’t awarded for matches against the Pumas.

He was unlucky in some ways. With the great Mike Gibson around, he did not get to fulfil his ambition to play for his country more often; much later on he would get enormous pleasure from living his dreams through his son, who would become more of a friend than a son as the years progressed.

Brian’s early years were spent in Clontarf, in north Dublin. Both of his parents were, and still are, GPs. His mother, Geraldine, keeps the whole family in order, and is very much the boss of the house. Brian was the youngest of three children, with two sisters – Jules, a nurse, and Sue, who is two years younger, and works in event management along with doing a bit of radio work.

The family are close-knit and to this day they spend Sundays together whenever possible. At the meal table nobody gets more than anybody else. The girls aren’t slow to tell Brian if the dishwasher needs filling, and the closeness and security of his family unit has undoubtedly helped to keep his feet on the ground and stop him becoming too big for his boots.

Even from a young age, Brian was showing signs of having a strong work ethic. As a child he hung a golf ball from a tree in the garden and would spend hours thwacking the ball with one of his dad’s clubs. Frank said he didn’t think his son was showing signs of madness, but was learning to develop his hand–eye co-ordination.

In those days, Frank kept a greenhouse of which he was very proud. If anyone broke a window with a stone they would be in big trouble. Do it with a ball, though, and it was in a good cause!

The garden was full of balls in those days. Golf balls, tennis balls, Gaelic footballs, soccer balls. Brian’s first hero was footballer Mark Hughes, who he admired for his attitude as much as his ability. Tap-ins were never his style. Brian was a big Manchester United fan from a young age, but he was never much of a one for posters. As a child, he was always someone who kept his feelings very close to his chest. He was never an exhibitionist, and everything was always under control, with all things in sensible proportions. So far as the nature of his personality went, little changed as he grew into an adult.

Yet there was another side to him, a side that was fiercely competitive even as a young child. At the age of around 13 or 14, he was playing a round of golf with his father at Royal Dublin. They were playing the 10th, a par four, where you have to hit the ball across a mound, but there’s a hollow to the left, and if you get it in there you seldom make par. Brian hit his tee shot straight into the mound. His father told him that he would give him 20 pounds if he made a par from there. So Brian responded by hitting a three-iron, followed by a chip to 10 feet before sinking the put. It was clear that Brian had a massive in-built determination.

As he grew up, he had his share of difficulties. A severe astigmatism – when the shape of the eyeball is not truly spherical – meant he could not keep contact lenses in, and he was chronically short-sighted, meaning he has always needed glasses for reading.

He was painfully shy throughout his childhood, and his parents found it a real struggle to get him to come out of his shell. That was the main reason he was sent to Blackrock College in Dublin, a fee-paying Catholic secondary school, which provided an education to several rugby stars including Alain Rolland, as well as other famous people such as the comedian and actor Ardal O’Hanlon. There was something about that school that appealed to Brian’s parents. Children walked out of there with their shoulders pinned back and their heads held high. This was exactly what their son needed.

It didn’t take long for the school to make an impact on Brian. In his second year he was elected as a class rep, a first taste of leadership for a future Ireland captain. His passion for sport continued to grow during his time here. Someone had seen him playing football (soccer) in the Community Games and encouraged him to join Trinity Boys, but at Blackrock he found rugby.

The summer before he started at Blackrock, he watched the 1991 Rugby World Cup on television. When he saw Michael Jones, the All Black flanker, Mark Hughes was relegated from top spot in his list of heroes. Brian watched with awe at what Jones could do. He was a back and a forward rolled into one combining great skill and superb running skills. He could tackle and mix it when it came to the rough stuff as well. Brian had found his role model.

However, when it came to his own development, things were a bit slow to begin with. Alan MacGinty, his school principal, left him off the Junior Cup team, on the grounds that he was tiny. That decision has haunted Alan ever since.

The only rugby Brian played in 1994 was with the under-16s at Clontarf. They won their league and that summer came the trip to Wales. Hugh Fanning, the coach, made some throwaway remark to Brian along the lines of: ‘Don’t forget to send me a postcard when you play for the Lions’. Seven years later, the card was in the post.

From then on, his talent began to shine through and, in 1996, while still at Blackrock, he was capped by Ireland Schools three times.

Legend surrounds his performance against Clongowes, in what was his last schools match. The Blackrock senior team were trailing as the clock ran down. Four times in the last five minutes, Brian tried to rescue the match with drop-goal attempts. One soared right over the top of the posts. Another hit the woodwork and bounced back into play, and Blackrock lost the game. This was a bitter pill to swallow, but learning to accept defeat with dignity was, unfortunately, something he would have to get used to as a sportsman.

Even at this stage, people were describing Brian as the new Brendan Mullin, who was considered by many to be the greatest Irish centre of recent times. After being something of a slow developer, or, perhaps more specifically, a slow grower, his skilful hands and ability to change gear quickly made him a real one to watch for the future.

At under-19 level, Brian was selected for the Ireland squad to play in the 1998 IRB under-19s World Championship in France, under the stewardship of respected coach Mike Ruddock. This tournament would have a profound effect on his career. By Brian’s own admission, there is no comparing the standard of the under-19s with senior rugby, which he says is 100 times better, but the opportunity to play in this tournament provided an important stepping stone and a chance for him to impress in front of some important people. And he was involved in some memorable matches in that tournament.

There was the quarter-final against South Africa, when Ireland were 17–0 down and battled back to make it 17–17. It eventually went to penalty kicks before Ireland won those on a technicality because South Africa had used a player that hadn’t finished the game as one of their five kickers. Ireland had lost the shoot-out 4–3, and Brian had taken one of the penalties and missed. Brian initially thought he had cost his side dear; until the technicality with the South African kicker was noticed, Brian was experiencing his first major low as a rugby player.

In the final, Ireland beat France 18–0 in Toulouse. Certainly, it was a team effort and everyone deserved credit for their remarkable achievement that day, but little did Brian know that he had caught the eye of some highly influential people and he was just a year away from playing for the Ireland senior team. Other notable names playing that day included Donncha O’Callaghan and Paddy Wallace.

Despite making remarkably rapid progress as a rugby player, Brian’s parents were keen for him to gain qualifications as a back-up should something go wrong. His father knew only too well that his gifted son was only one nasty injury or one piece of bad luck away from being unable to play rugby again, and he was keen for him to have something for him to fall back on should this happen.

For this reason, Brian attended University College, Dublin on a scholarship. While at the college, he gained a diploma in sports management, but it was for his progress as a rugby player that his time there will be best remembered. Under Director of Rugby John McLean, he first made the under-20 side, before being promoted to the senior squad at the end of his first year.

Meanwhile, the Ireland squad were undergoing something of a revolution under Kiwi coach Warren Gatland, who was professionalising the entire setup to bring it into step with the modern era, while building a team that would, in time, compete with the world’s very best. This meant breaking in players now who would form part of the Ireland side for the next decade, giving them a chance to know each other as players and as people early in the day.

Brian made his under-21 debut in February 1999, and went on to gain four caps. However, Warren clearly knew he had something very special when, incredibly, he called Brian into his senior squad for the Six Nations match against Italy. This was before he had even made his club debut for Leinster, which would not come until the August of that year. Brian’s job that day was just to keep the bench warm, but he retained his place in the squad for the summer tour of Australia, and, on 12 June 1999, at the age of just 20, he made his senior debut for Ireland against the Wallabies in the first Test in Brisbane.

This match certainly wasn’t Irish rugby’s finest hour, as they crashed to a record 46–10 defeat, with Tiaan Strauss scoring a hat-trick of tries, but Brian certainly made his presence felt on the field that day and helped Ireland claim a fine consolation try when he, along with Connor O’Shea, dragged deep into Australian territory before Kevin Maggs finished off an impressive move.

He was far from the finished article, and still had a lot of growing up to do both in terms of his physique and in the development of his rugby skills, but, by showing what he was made of that day, he sealed his place in the Ireland team for the foreseeable future at least.

On 7 August 1999, Brian finally made his debut for Leinster, playing in an Interprovincial game against arch rivals Munster. Once again, Brian was on the losing side as they fell to a 31–20 defeat at Temple Hill.

Brian’s development as a player was rapid, and in the Six Nations Championship of 2000 he showed how good he was when he took to the field in what was to be a very special game of rugby in Paris. However, the game started disastrously for Ireland when David Bory scored France’s first try in the left corner after just 47 seconds. Or so they thought. Touch judge Jim Fleming ruled the final pass to be forward, but the warning was clear. This was a French side that meant business and would be tough to break down. Gérald Merceron soon put France 6–0 ahead, after Ireland were caught offside twice in as many minutes.

The first quarter of the game was a disaster for Ireland, but the game was about to change dramatically thanks largely to Brian’s breathtaking efforts. He firstly collected the ball well from a French drop-out and Peter Stringer and Peter Clohessy drove into the ensuing ruck. It sent the home side backwards and there was little to stop Brian when he appeared in the move for the second time to touch down underneath the posts.

The home side soon hit back when scrum-half Christophe Laussucq scored following a quick tap penalty. In a match of blistering pace, Kieron Dawson then came close to replying, but knocked on as he touched over for Ireland on the left.

Early in the second half, Merceron kicked over a long penalty which saw the beginning of a period of play dominated by the home side, and it wasn’t long before Merceron kicked over another penalty from right in front of the posts to stretch the French lead to 12 points.

Warren decided to bring on Paddy Johns to give experience to the flagging Irish pack, and his presence soon rubbed off on Brian. Some quality interplay between him and Rob Henderson saw him score his second of the game, silencing the French crowd. Ronan O’Gara converted to cut the lead to just six points. Although still relatively inexperienced at this level, Brian sensed this game was very winnable.

Disaster struck when Johns received a yellow card for blatantly lying on the ball. He left the field to French cheers as Merceron again increased the home lead. Warren then decided to replace Ronan with the experienced David Humphreys, who almost immediately scored a superb 40-metre penalty, but Ireland were caught offside far too often and Merceron soon put over another penalty of his own. The game looked to be heading firmly in the home side’s direction, and it looked as though Ireland’s appalling track record in France was going to remain. The last time they had won here was in 1972. Cue Brian O’Driscoll.

The French had been caught offside, after blatantly diving through a ruck. But an inspired piece of refereeing from Paul Honnis gave Stringer the opportunity to sidestep his way through a host of French tacklers, before offloading to Brian who went charging towards the try-line and secured his hat-trick. With just three minutes remaining, Humphreys converted to give Ireland a two-point lead. They managed to hang on, and won the game 27–25.

In the post-match interviews, Brian was typically shy and humble and heaped praise on David Humphreys’s brave efforts. In Brian’s eyes, David had been the hero of the day and he was keen to take the attention away from his own performance, which had just given Irish rugby one of the proudest days in its long history.

The Irish rugby fans had known that young Brian was good, but until that day they had not realised just how special he was. And they also had to remember that he was just 21 years of age, and there was plenty of room for improvement yet. Even people who didn’t really follow rugby knew who Brian was after this. He was a true national hero and, even if he never played another game of rugby in his life, his would be a name they would never forget.

For Brian, life would never be the same again. From now on, media interest in every aspect of his life would be something he was just going to have to get used to. He was still very much a shy young man, and this was something he didn’t always appreciate. But there would be an upside to it. All this attention would inevitably mean that there would be sponsorship opportunities and chances to make a great deal of money by having his name associated with big brands.

While Brian’s progress remained rapid over the next few years, the same could not be said of the Ireland team. Warren was playing the long game, and his focus was more on the future than the present. The actions he was taking to professionalise Irish rugby would not bear fruit for several more years, and, on the pitch, his priority was to get his crop of talented youngsters used to playing together now, as they would form the nucleus of the team for the next decade. The price they would inevitably have to pay for this was that success would not be instant; on paper, the scorelines in big matches over the next few years were not pleasant reading and the prospect of picking up major trophies seemed a long way off.

Brian consolidated his excellent performance against France by playing consistently well for club and country over the next 12 months, and this led to him receiving a call-up to the Lions squad to tour Australia in the summer of 2001. Brian knew that there was still massive room for improvement in his game and there was still plenty of work to be done, but he knew this was an opportunity to impress on the world stage that he could not afford to miss.

The Lions were coached by Kiwi Graham Henry, who had experienced mixed fortunes as Wales coach over the previous few years. Brian and Graham did not enjoy an especially warm relationship during the tour; the main bone of contention being the importance of the preparation of the players for the midweek sides compared to those playing in the tests. The full extent of the disagreement that existed between Brian and Graham would not fully come to light for another four years.

However, Brian possessed undoubted talent and he was selected to play in all three Tests. It was in the first Test that he really made his presence felt, where he helped the Lions to a memorable win against the Wallabies.

The Lions looked firmly in control from the third minute when Jason Robinson scored in the corner. Brian’s first major act as a Lions player came on 11 minutes, and it wasn’t to be one of his finer moments. Rob Henderson tried passing to Brian, but it was intercepted by Joe Roff who almost broke free for the Wallabies.

He more than made up for any blame that could have been attributed to him in that move in the 32nd minute when he ripped the Australian defence to shreds in spectacular fashion before off-loading to Jason Robinson who drew Andrew Walker, waited, and sent Dafydd James in at the corner for a wonderful score.

However, it was in the second half when the Lions really turned on the class. With a slender 12–3 lead, the Lions could have been forgiven for going on the defensive. Instead, they ripped into the Wallaby rearguard like men possessed.

The forwards maintained a rock-solid base 30 yards out. Jonny Wilkinson fed the ball to Brian and he smashed through the Aussie back-line like a supercharged tank and crashed over the line to send the 12,000 Lions fans in the Gabba crowd into raptures. Brian had shown his class on the world stage with a memorable try.

From then on, the game looked in the bag in a display of free-flowing, open rugby at its best and a further try from Scott Quinnell helped seal a 29–13 win for the Lions. Brian was pivotal in this victory and was playing like a man with far more experience than his 22 years would suggest. Captain Martin Johnson was full of praise for Brian’s efforts, and described the game as one of the best he had ever been involved with or seen.

However, this was to be his best rugby of the tour. In the remaining two Tests, the Lions lost momentum and some of Graham Henry’s preparation methods came into question as the unhappy atmosphere in the camp spilled over into the media, particularly from the newspaper columns of Matt Dawson and Austin Healey. It was even suggested by the media that a number of players were preparing to leave the tour early. In the months that followed, it became clear that the tour was not a happy one, with Henry saying in his own tour diary that he felt ‘betrayed’ by several players, namely those who gave accounts of the inner workings of the camp in their lucrative newspaper columns.

In the second Test at the Telstra Dome, Brian managed to break through the Australian line on a number of occasions but didn’t receive the backup needed to capitalise upon his efforts, and the Lions suffered a humiliating 29–14 defeat.

In the final Test, Brian’s only major contribution to the game was when he was on the receiving end of a high tackle from Herbert, which sent him crashing to the ground. The game was competitive and there was rarely more than a score in it, but ultimately the Lions were the poorer side and fell to a 29–23 defeat, handing Australia the series in the process.

The series was among the most competitive in history, and Brian had been one of the shining lights of the Lions team. He was only 22 years old and there was still a lot of room for improvement, but already he had established himself as one of the best centres in the world and had shown he was unfazed by the big occasion.

Yet in the months that followed the tour, his career saw something of a blip and he was far from at his best for the remainder of the year. Maybe something had to give. His life had changed beyond all recognition in a relatively short space of time. He had gone from being a shy, unassuming schoolboy to rugby superstar and national hero. All of this was going on while he was still in the process of becoming an adult, and it’s arguable that people were expecting too much of him and the pressure was beginning to tell.

That said, in mid-December, he won his first silverware as a professional when Leinster won the inaugural Celtic League. The competition was experiencing all sorts of teething problems and followed a very different format to the one it would eventually settle on. The league, which ended before Christmas, climaxed with a final between Leinster and arch rivals Munster in front of 30,000 fans at Lansdowne Road.

Leinster coach Matt Williams had some notable names in his ranks, including Gordon D’Arcy, Shane Horgan, Malcolm O’Kelly, Denis Hickie and captain Reggie Corrigan. However, it was Munster who made the early running, and went into the break with a 12-6 lead and a man advantage after Eric Miller’s sending off. Ronan O’Gara added another splendid kick after 51 minutes to extend his side’s lead. But if anything, the Munster score seemed to spur Leinster on.

Shane Horgan, later named man of the match, immediately produced another burst deep into Munster territory and Brian maintained the pressure with a break which earned a penalty, and Nathan Spooner’s successful kick left six points between the teams again.

Another Spooner penalty reduced Munster’s lead to three points in the 64th minute after Hickie’s break had earned the chance. Hickie’s involvement was central to the 66th minute try which put Leinster ahead for the first time. His counter-attack saw the ball being fed to Horgan on the burst and the centre off-loaded possession to the overlapping D’Arcy who scored in the corner.

Spooner, who had recovered his composure after a nervous first half, brilliantly added the conversion to extend Leinster’s lead to 19-15. Leinster were now firmly in the ascendency and Brian’s superb chip and chase yielded his side’s second try in five minutes. Oozing a confidence that had been lacking in recent months, he seemed certain to score the try himself but after he was hauled down illegally, Horgan continued to win the race for the try line.

Munster produced a typically battling response as they attempted to fight back, and Anthony Horgan did grab an injury-time try for Munster, but after Ronan O’Gara missed the conversion, referee Nigel Whitehouse blew his whistle. Leinster had done enough to beat their old rivals for the first time in six matches to claim the very first Celtic League title, giving Brian his first silverware in professional rugby.

When the Six Nations came around the following spring, Brian returned to form in spectacular fashion, with Ireland’s third match against Scotland proving to be one of the highlights of his career. The Ireland team took to the field at Lansdowne Road, eager to make amends for the catastrophic defeat to England they had suffered in the last round of matches.

Ireland kept Scotland pinned in their own half for the first 10 minutes, but their only reward came in the first minute through a Humphreys penalty. Gregor Townsend eventually relieved the pressure with a bombshell clearance and, when Mick Galwey fell over at a ruck, Brendan Laney levelled from 35 metres out. Laney kicked another one over just four minutes later to put Scotland in front.

Scotland, playing with the strong breeze, were putting together some excellent passages of keep-ball which had the Irish defence scrambling. The pressure paid off for the visitors when Laney put his third penalty over in the 22nd minute. Ireland were looking down-and-out, but Brian was about to return to form in spectacular fashion and turn the game in his country’s favour.

Just three minutes after Laney’s penalty, Stringer whipped the ball away left to Humphreys who put Brian through a yawning gap as the Scottish defence was caught by the decoy run of Kevin Maggs. At last, Brian’s poor run of form seemed to be over, and this special try seemed to help him put the demons that had haunted him since the previous summer to bed.

Brian seemed psyched up and ready to take on the world, back to his most bold, confident and deadly, and just seven minutes later he was at the centre of the action once more. He started the move with a powerful kick upfield, and then helped finish things off when his long pass drifted wide to left-wing Shane Horgan, who ran in unaccompanied.

More was to follow before half-time when the Scotland midfield dropped the ball in the home 22. Up stepped Brian who moved in swiftly to scoop it up and sprint all the way in. Humphreys added the conversion. Suddenly, all Brian’s problems with confidence seemed like ancient history. This was more like the Drico who scored a hat-trick against France.

Laney reduced the Scots’ deficit with a penalty either side of half-time, before Humphreys relieved some of the pressure now being put on Ireland with two rifled penalties, passing Michael Kiernan’s record of 308 points for his country in the process.

With 15 minutes remaining, Ireland added another try when the Scottish midfield clumsily dropped the ball for the umpteenth time in the match, allowing Horgan to feed Humphreys who in turn switched direction for Simon Easterby to glide in.

Scotland scored a consolation try but it was Brian who was to have the final word on the game, when a quick ball from an Irish scrum allowed him to dart between Andrew Henderson and James McLaren, to score his second Six Nations hat-trick and seal Ireland’s only second victory over Scotland in 15 matches, by a comfortable 43–22 margin. Brian O’Driscoll was back in business.

As for the Ireland team itself, it soon became clear that this was still very much a side in transition. Frustration at the lack of consistency had seen Warren sacked as coach and he had been replaced by his assistant, Eddie O’Sullivan. Consistency was still very much a problem. On the one hand, they had beaten Wales and Scotland, yet on other days they had suffered humiliating defeats at the hands of England and France.

Longstanding Ireland captain Keith Wood announced his retirement after the autumn internationals of 2002. In Eddie’s mind, Brian was the natural and most obvious successor to Keith, and the announcement that Brian would be captaining Ireland in the 2003 Six Nations surprised few. It is true that, at just 24 years of age, he lacked the kind of experience most previous captains had seen, but there were clearly many good reasons why Brian was ready for the job.

Mainly, Eddie’s eye was very much on the future. Yes, there was no reason why Ireland shouldn’t be serious contenders for the upcoming Six Nations, but there were a crop of truly outstanding players on the horizon who would not reach their peak for another few years. Like his predecessor, Eddie believed in getting them used to playing together early on, so that, when they were all at the top of their games in a few years’ time, they would know one another’s games inside out.

Brian was still very much an improving player. Incredibly, he still had his critics. There were, for instance, still those who believed his kicking game was not up to scratch, yet this previous weakness had come on in leaps and bounds over the previous 12 months. In reality, Eddie knew that Brian had what it took to make an outstanding captain, despite his relatively young age. He had shown battling qualities in so many Ireland performances to date and, despite his reserved and humble personality, was proving to be a ruthless warrior on the pitch.

Every serious rugby fan in the world now acknowledged that he was one of the world’s greatest players, and was still getting better all the time. The Ireland fans had taken him to their hearts, so much so that T-shirts bearing the slogans ‘In B.OD We Trust’ were soon printed following his appointment as captain and have remained popular at Ireland matches ever since.

In his first Six Nations as captain, Brian led Ireland to four wins out of the first four matches, which included an impressive try of his own against Italy. The scene was set for a Grand Slam decider at Lansdowne Road against a powerful England side. On the day, Ireland struggled to get going and were simply outclassed by the more mature England side, and, despite Brian and Geordan Murphy testing the resolve of the England defence early on, the result never looked in any doubt and England secured a walloping 42–6 victory. After the game, Brian told the press that slowly, but surely, they were getting there and it was only going to be a matter of time before Ireland ranked among the world’s greatest sides. For him, it was disappointing to lose the game but he was still hugely optimistic for the future, as he knew the sheer quality of the young players coming through.

This defeat set alarm bells ringing in certain quarters and not everybody at the IRFU was willing to play the ‘long game’ that Eddie and Brian were committed to. Keith Wood, who had barely even featured for his club Harlequins during the season, was coaxed out of international retirement. It was decided that he, rather than Brian, should lead Ireland in the upcoming World Cup, which was to be his third as a player.

Brian could easily have felt cheated of the opportunity to captain his country in the World Cup, but instead he stuck his head down and quietly got on with the job, knowing that, once the tournament was over, Keith would be off the scene for good and the role of captain would be his once more. This decision was certainly a controversial one, as it went against the youth-based ethos that Eddie had subscribed to throughout his tenure so far. Yet it was the long, patient game that had cost Warren his job and the powers that be weren’t willing to wait much longer for Ireland to become serious contenders. This meant that it was Keith’s job to add some much-needed experience to this very young squad.

The first three matches of the tournament saw Ireland notch up convincing victories against Romania and Namibia in the Pool stages, before defeating a resilient Argentina by a single point thanks to a try from Alan Quinlan. Brian made his presence felt in Ireland’s final group game against Australia. In the second half, with his side 14–6 down, he scored one of the most memorable tries of his career to date. The video referee was brought in to judge whether the Irish ace had touched the ball down in the left corner before his feet went into touch, but the Irish faithful inside the stadium were never in any doubt.

Ronan added the conversion, to put Ireland within a point of the world champions. Elton Flatley kicked another penalty to make the gap four points, but a drop goal from Brian with 13 minutes to play kept Ireland in the hunt. Unfortunately, Australia were just that little bit too strong for them and the more experienced side managed to hang on for victory.

Despite the defeat, Ireland had done enough in their earlier matches and set up a mouth-watering quarter-final clash against France. Although Ireland were the underdogs, Brian had remembered how his side had beaten France 15–12 in a closely fought match in Dublin during the Six Nations and knew this game was very winnable.

However, come the day, the French stormed to a 27–0 lead at half-time and amassed four tries in the process. Even so, Brian was at the top of his game and things could have been so much worse for the Irish had he not been playing. Early on, he made a crucial last-gasp tackle on a flying Tony Marsh to deny him an almost certain try.

Crenca scored France’s fourth try inside the first 10 minutes of the second period, effectively ending the game as a contest, but Ireland soon got on the scoreboard with a try from Kevin Maggs. This was now an exercise in damage limitation, and Brian was clearly keen to give the thousands of Irish fans at least some momentum they could be proud of from this game.

Sure enough, Brian delivered Ireland’s second consolation try when he got a touch on Humphreys’s grubber kick, and on the final whistle he added a second to bring respectability to the scoreline, which read France 43 Ireland 21. Things would have been a lot worse without Brian.

Ireland’s World Cup had been typical of the sort of form they had been showing over the past year. On occasions, they looked like they could beat any team in the world yet they were a young squad and on the really big occasions their lack of experience and squad depth really did show, but at the same time it was clear that this side was going to be one to watch for the future.

As expected, Keith Wood announced his retirement from rugby immediately after Ireland’s defeat to France, and Brian was immediately reinstated as captain for the Six Nations campaign in the spring.

Ironically, Ireland had to face France in Paris in the first round of fixtures, and unfortunately for Brian the game turned out to be a recurring nightmare of the World Cup quarter-final as Ireland crashed to a 35–17 defeat in similar style to their World Cup exit. The Grand Slam chance may have been lost, but this was an Ireland side that needed to show the world that they were maturing fast and that the day when they would be winning major trophies was near.

At home to a lacklustre Wales side, Brian turned on the class, scoring two of Ireland’s six tries as they stormed to a commanding 36–15 victory. Next up came an away match against the newly crowned world champions, England, who had crushed Italy and Scotland in their opening two fixtures, despite having to do without an injured Jonny Wilkinson and a number of retirements following the World Cup triumph.

England scored the only try of the first half through Matt Dawson but some superb kicking from Ronan saw the visitors take a 12–10 lead at the break. However, England came out firing in the second half and Ben Cohen went over only for the video referee to rule out the try for a double movement. This seemed to inspire Brian and within minutes he made a superb break, the ball was spread wide and Leinster full-back Girvan Dempsey crossed over in the corner. Ronan converted, and England could only offer a Paul Grayson penalty in response, giving Ireland an incredible 19–12 victory against the world champions, thanks largely to some stubborn and determined defending.

After the game, Brian could not hide his delight and the normally reserved and quiet Ireland captain could not wait to tell the world that this side had arrived on the world rugby scene and meant business. At long last, the young team that had shown so much promise had finally delivered the goods.

A fortnight later, Ireland consolidated their excellent performance against England when Brian guided his side to a 19–3 home win against Italy, which included a try of his own. Going into the final round of fixtures, the Triple Crown was still on, but, realistically, the Championship was out of the question unless England managed to thrash France by an enormous margin. Instead, Brian had to focus all his attentions on beating Scotland at Lansdowne Road. The game also saw Brian notch up his 50th cap for Ireland at the age of just 25. He was keen to make this a day for all Irish rugby fans to remember, a day when they finally had a trophy to parade around their historic home ground, which was the oldest in the world.

The home side had a nervy first period against a fired-up Scotland team but Geordan Murphy’s try just before the break gave Ireland a 16–9 lead; however, the visitors did level the scores with an Ali Hogg try on 48 minutes. This Scotland side was clearly keen on causing an upset after a dreadful tournament to date. However, three tries in the final 24 minutes, including a second for Gordon D’Arcy, sealed the win for Ireland. The final quarter of the game was hardly vintage rugby from either side, but Ireland had done enough.

Finally, Ireland had something to show for their efforts: the Triple Crown. After years of showing promise but failing on the big occasion, this was a massive sign that things were finally starting to come together for this promising young squad. The final game was a quiet one by Brian’s standards, but his impact in earlier matches had been enormous and his efforts as both player and captain had been pivotal in contributing to Ireland’s historic achievement.

Brian celebrated with a night at Kehoe’s Bar in Dublin. This was a day to remember. But Brian was also aware that, from now on, this was the minimum requirement, and that next year, and thereafter, the fans expected even better from the team.

That autumn, Brian led his team out at Lansdowne Road to face a South Africa side that had been rejuvenated under the stewardship of coach Jake White. Ronan scored all Ireland’s points as they beat the Southern Hemisphere giants 17–12, but the win was in no small part down to Brian’s no-nonsense approach from start to finish. Ireland had defended and tackled superbly and richly deserved this victory. They consolidated this with an expected thrashing of the USA, before ending the autumn series by beating a rapidly improving Argentina side 21–19, with Ronan providing all the points once again.

Brian might not have managed to get his name on the scoresheet against South Africa and Argentina, but he had steered Ireland to two memorable victories, and had led by example by giving his best from start to finish. After a shaky start, 2004 had ended on a high, and it seemed that, after over five years of preparation, this Ireland side had finally come of age. Things were not perfect, and a number of players were far from the finished article, but it was clear that Ireland were to be a major force in world rugby in the years ahead. The years of patient preparation had finally paid off, and the reality was that Brian was now the captain of one of the world’s best rugby teams.

Brian’s status as one of the world’s greatest centres was secure, but he was quickly developing a reputation as a strong leader and great motivator of those around him. With such status comes increased responsibility and raised expectations, and Brian knew that the year ahead would be one of the most important of his life.