O’Driscoll Prepares For Lansdowne Road Farewell

1 – Brian O’Driscoll will overtake former Wallaby scrum half George Gregan on Saturday as the most-capped player in international rugby history, with a record-breaking 140th Test appearance (132 games for Ireland and eight for the Lions)

2 – The Dubliner will also eclipse his good friend and former team-mate Ronan O’Gara as the Six Nations’ most-capped player with 64 tournament appearances

3 – Saturday’s encounter with Italy will be O’Driscoll’s 52nd and final international appearance at the Lansdowne Road ground. His first was against Argentina back in August 1999

4 – He has scored 19 tries and 1 drop goal in his 51 Test matches – 50 starts – at Lansdowne Road. His first came against the USA during the 1999 Rugby World Cup and his last was against England in the 2011 Six Nations, a score which also saw him become the Championship’s record try scorer

5 – His one and only Test appearance off the bench came in Ireland’s 1999 Rugby World Cup pool win over Romania at Lansdowne Road, a game in which his long-time centre partner Gordon D’Arcy – also a replacement that night – made his debut as a 19-year-old

6 – O’Driscoll has put on many memorable scoring displays at Lansdowne Road, famously running in a hat-trick of tries against Scotland (2002) and scoring braces against Japan (2000), Georgia (2002) and Wales (2004)

7 – Arguably the most important tries he scored in Dublin came during Ireland’s run of matches at Croke Park, with two crucial scores against France and England in the 2009 Grand Slam campaign

8 – Ireland’s winning ratio at Lansdowne Road with O’Driscoll on the pitch is 73.52%, with 37 wins, 1 draw and 13 defeats. Over the centre’s entire 139-cap career, Ireland’s winning ratio stands at 58.27%

9 – He is bowing out as Ireland’s record caps holder and record try scorer (46 tries), and as the elder statesman of the current team at 35 years of age

10 – 26 of O’Driscoll’s tries have come in the Six Nations, including five in 12 previous Championship clashes with Italy. His other Six Nations tries are: England (3), France (6), Scotland (5) and Wales (7)

11 – O’Driscoll international scoring haul of 250 points – between Ireland and Lions games – includes 47 tries overall and five drop goals, with successful kicks against Romania, New Zealand (2), Australia and England

12 – Ireland have a win percentage of 69% in the Six Nations when O’Driscoll has played. This breaks down into 43 wins, 19 losses and one draw

13 – He has added some personal touches to the adidas boots he will wear against Italy by scribing ‘BOD’ by hand on the boots and the letters ‘A & S’ were also handwritten by O’Driscoll and embellished onto the front of the boots as a tribute to his wife Amy and daughter Sadie