In Focus: Brian O’Driscoll As Ireland Captain
With the announcement that Brian O’Driscoll will captain Ireland for the forthcoming RBS 6 Nations Championship, we take a closer look at his captaincy record. he skippered Ireland for the 50th time against New Zealand last November.
Brian O’Driscoll has been Ireland’s talismanic leader for the past five years, captaining his country to 34 wins (a 66.67% success rate) in 51 Test matches before the 2009 RBS 6 Nations Championship.
The talented centre has skippered Ireland to three Triple Crowns (in 2004, 2006 and 2007) and also lifted the Magners League trophy for Leinster last season.
He stood in for injured captain Keith Wood in 2002 and 2003 and then took over the captaincy full-time in early 2004. He had immediate success with twelve victories in his first 13 games as captain.
He overtook Wood (36 Tests) in the Irish captaincies list when he led Ireland for the 37th time against Italy in Rome in March 2007.
O’Driscoll is currently Ireland’s record try scorer (32 tries). Notably, Australia (two times), Argentina (two times), France (once), England (four times) and South Africa (two times) have all be defeated during the 30-year-old’s reign.
His stunning hat-trick of tries against France in 2000 guided Ireland to their first win in Paris for 28 years.
O’Driscoll combines sheer determination, brilliant defensive qualities, dazzling attacking skills and a winning mentality to be one of the most feared players in the world.
From his wonder try for the Lions against Australia in 2001 through to his effort against the Wallabies last June – that was his 32nd try, edging him further ahead on Ireland’s top try scorers list – he has had some magic moments in the Test arena.
Retaining the captaincy under new coach Declan Kidney, with whom he won the Under-19 World Youth Championship in 1998, O’Driscoll wants to lead Ireland to ‘something special’ this year.
When O’Driscoll was either out injured or unavailable, Paul O’Connell, Simon Easterby, David Humphreys, Simon Best and Ronan O’Gara (most recently against England last March) have stood in as Ireland’s captain.
BRIAN O’DRISCOLL – 51-MATCH RECORD AS IRELAND CAPTAIN:
November 9, 2002 – Autumn International – Ireland 18 Australia 9, Lansdowne Road
November 17, 2002 – Autumn International – Ireland 64 Fiji 17, Lansdowne Road (1 try – 17th Test score)
November 23, 2002 – Autumn International – Ireland 16 Argentina 7, Lansdowne Road
February 16, 2003 – Six Nations – Scotland 6 Ireland 36, Murrayfield
February 22, 2003 – Six Nations – Italy 13 Ireland 37, Stadio Flaminio (1 try – 18th)
March 8, 2003 – Six Nations – Ireland 15 France 12, Lansdowne Road
March 22, 2003 – Six Nations – Wales 24 Ireland 25, Millennium Stadium
March 30, 2003 – Six Nations – Ireland 6 England 42, Lansdowne Road
August 30, 2003 – World Cup Warm-Up – Ireland 61 Italy 6, Thomond Park
February 22, 2004 – Six Nations – Ireland 36 Wales 15, Lansdowne Road (2 tries – 22nd and 23rd)
March 6, 2004 – Six Nations – England 13 Ireland 19, Twickenham
March 20, 2004 – Six Nations – Ireland 19 Italy 3, Lansdowne Road (1 try – 24th; yellow card)
March 27, 2004 – Six Nations – Ireland 37 Scotland 16, Lansdowne Road
June 12, 2004 – Summer Tour – South Africa 31 Ireland 17, Vodacom Park
June 19, 2004 – Summer Tour – South Africa 26 Ireland 17, Newlands (1 try – 25th)
November 13, 2004 – Autumn International – Ireland 17 South Africa 12, Lansdowne Road
November 20, 2004 – Autumn International – Ireland 55 United States 6, Lansdowne Road
November 27, 2004 – Autumn International – Ireland 21 Argentina 19, Lansdowne Road
February 6, 2005 – Six Nations – Italy 17 Ireland 28, Stadio Flaminio
February 27, 2005 – Six Nations – Ireland 19 England 13, Lansdowne Road (1 try – 26th)
March 12, 2005 – Six Nations – Ireland 19 France 26, Lansdowne Road (1 try – 27th)
March 19, 2005 – Six Nations – Wales 32 Ireland 20, Millennium Stadium
February 4, 2006 – Six Nations – Ireland 26 Italy 16, Lansdowne Road
February 11, 2006 – Six Nations – France 43 Ireland 31, Stade de France
February 26, 2006 – Six Nations – Ireland 31 Wales 5, Lansdowne Road
March 11, 2006 – Six Nations – Ireland 15 Scotland 9, Lansdowne Road
March 18, 2006 – Six Nations – England 24 Ireland 28, Twickenham
June 10, 2006 – Summer Tour – New Zealand 34 Ireland 23, Waikato Stadium (1 try – 28th)
June 17, 2006 – Summer Tour – New Zealand 27 Ireland 17, Eden Park
June 24, 2006 – Summer Tour – Australia 37 Ireland 15, Subiaco Oval
November 11, 2006 – Autumn International – Ireland 32 South Africa 15, Lansdowne Road
November 19, 2006 – Autumn International – Ireland 21 Australia 6, Lansdowne Road
November 26, 2006 – Autumn International – Ireland 61 Pacific Islanders 17, Lansdowne Road
February 4, 2007 – Six Nations – Wales 9 Ireland 19, Millennium Stadium (1 try – 29th)
February 24, 2007 – Six Nations – Ireland 43 England 13, Croke Park
March 10, 2007 – Six Nations – Scotland 18 Ireland 19, Murrayfield
March 17, 2007 – Six Nations – Italy 24 Ireland 51, Stadio Flaminio
August 11, 2007 – World Cup Warm-Up – Scotland 31 Ireland 21, Murrayfield
September 9, 2007 – World Cup Pool D – Ireland 32 Namibia 17, Stade Chaban-Delmas (1 try – 30th)
September 15, 2007 – World Cup Pool D – Ireland 14 Georgia 10, Stade Chaban-Delmas
September 21, 2007 – World Cup Pool D – France 25 Ireland 3, Stade de France
September 30, 2007 – World Cup Pool D – Ireland 15 Argentina 30, Parc des Princes (1 try – 31st)
February 2, 2008 – Six Nations – Ireland 16 Italy 11, Croke Park
February 9, 2008 – Six Nations – France 26 Ireland 21, Stade de France
February 23, 2008 – Six Nations – Ireland 34 Scotland 13, Croke Park
March 8, 2008 – Six Nations – Ireland 12 Wales 16, Croke Park
June 7, 2008 – Summer Tour – New Zealand 21 Ireland 11, Westpac Stadium
June 14, 2008 – Summer Tour – Australia 18 Ireland 12, Telstra Dome (1 try – 32nd)
November 8, 2008 – Autumn International – Ireland 55 Canada 0, Thomond Park Stadium
November 15, 2008 – Autumn International – Ireland 3 New Zealand 22, Croke Park
November 22, 2008 – Autumn International – Ireland 17 Argentina 3, Croke Park