Why is Brian O'Discoll Retiring From The Irish Rugby Team?

Or supposed to be retiring if you read the press.

I think he still has something to offer. So rugby experts what gives?

I thought he was banned.

He just got banned for 3 weeks he will miss some crucial games for Leinster as for retiring he hasn't said he will yet but a lot believe after the Lions he will retire. Why he would retire would be his own reasons he is still our best outside centre and still has a lot to offer but lets face it he is getting on he has had his fair share of injuries recently so maybe for Ireland replacing him now instea dof in a few years just before a world cup would be better. Who we can replace him with is another story

No one can replace him. Its been a very long time since Mike Gibson ruled the World at 12. Have we replaced him since?

That level of rugby genius, class and intelligence, doesn't come round very often.
Im just happy I saw them both play in my lifetime.

Imagine those two in the same Irish side?

Rugby filth.

Strongback wrote:Or supposed to be retiring if you read the press.

I think he still has something to offer. So rugby experts what gives?

He hasnt decided yet. I'd imagine he is waiting to see what Ireland's new coaching ticket will be and what they will have to offer before he makes up his mind.

Would you retire when your last game was your countries first ever 6N loss to Italy? I wouldnt anyway.

I think he needs to do another year.

He doesn't want to be remembered for losing to Italy or stamping. Same with Healy.

Because he is crap?

Gibson wrote:No one can replace him. Its been a very long time since Mike Gibson ruled the World at 12. Have we replaced him since?

Erm Paddy Wallace mon cher!

He's retiring because he's been barely eeking out the last threads of competitive athleticism all season, and if he tries to go for another he'll really struggle at all levels, and will be known for going on way too long.

He's targetted the lions tour as a final hurrah, and he pretty much needs it now more than ever!

In a well coached and conditioned team...ah, he might have one more vintage season in him.

Never forget...he was dead in the water media-wise before 2009. Ten years in and he proved a few people wrong...not the Player of the Year People though..they're a hard shower to impress!

I wouldn't underestimate the role of his new baby in his decision.

I recall an old pro saying that once you started to question it, it was already time to hang up your boots.

If he goes on he'll be little more than leinster cheerleader who's alowed into the dressing room

Cyril on 606v2 wrote:I think he needs to do another year.

He doesn't want to be remembered for losing to Italy or stamping. Same with Healy.

What do you mean same with Healy. Healy is only 25!! He has at least 7 years left if Drico is anything to go by.

GunsGerms wrote:

Cyril on 606v2 wrote:I think he needs to do another year.

He doesn't want to be remembered for losing to Italy or stamping. Same with Healy.

What do you mean same with Healy. Healy is only 25!! He has at least 7 years left if Drico is anything to go by.

Agreed Healy has plenty of time to make up for both.

Brian isn't retiring. Fresh of the press.....so fresh I don't even have a source. One year extension is on the table and Brian is just waiting for Deccies P45 to be sent out before he signs it.....

Just remember you heard it here first .

Even though he is clearly creaking in his old age, the fact is no other 6N centre looked much better than him even now at 34 years of age.

Davies had a poor enough tournament. Dreadful v Ireland.
Roberts was good but one dimentional as usual. He is a square jawed battering ram.
Tuilagi will never live up to the hype. Was expecting the second coming based on hype prior to the tournament. He was fairly blunt in attack.
Barrett is decent if not spectacular, another battering ram.

GunsGerms

Granted on your point... although Tuilagi was injured until the 2nd game (and only used in last 20 mins)... prior to that he hadn't played rugby in 1 month. Its difficult to find instant form straight away especially since his team weren't exactly setting him up either.

On a one off match I'd go with BOD every time. In a 10 match series where senior players may play 6-7 of those.... I'd start to lean towards the younger guys in the pack below.

fa0019 wrote:GunsGerms



On a one off match I'd go with BOD every time. In a 10 match series where senior players may play 6-7 of those.... I'd start to lean towards the younger guys in the pack below.

Understandable, and a correct assessment fa0019. He's the age he is, and he's held together with spit and glue...but he's a man for a mission if the duration can be curtailed and micro manged.

He gives real worth to a side when the entire side is performing (he's not and never really is a burden to a side) More often than not he's misfired when great sections of his team has been misfiring. He's not a miracle worker..he needs support too like other players look for it from him.

So yes, his age goes against him in long campaigns and being brought out for 80 minutes of each game in a campaign (although there again, he was still standing at the end of Ireland's nightmare 6N when many of his younger companions were out) But he's still a valuable weapon in a high stakes game that needs a spark of something to ignite it. In a good team, he's still a good bullet.

Tempus fugit et adolescentia dissolubilis.

The Vicar of Dublin will get his statue.

fa0019 wrote:GunsGerms

Granted on your point... although Tuilagi was injured until the 2nd game (and only used in last 20 mins)... prior to that he hadn't played rugby in 1 month. Its difficult to find instant form straight away especially since his team weren't exactly setting him up either.

On a one off match I'd go with BOD every time. In a 10 match series where senior players may play 6-7 of those.... I'd start to lean towards the younger guys in the pack below.

Yep, Tuilagi was coming back from injury but even four games in v Wales he looked rusty. He is a good player of course but does he really offer much more than BOD right now? Jury is out IMO.

Im sure if BOD tours he will get some test time and some mid week time. Indeed I cant see any centre playing all three tests right now.

I agree... no point taking him otherwise. If he tours he has to be in the 23 min.

Experience counts for a great deal, O'Driscoll has lived at the top of the game all his career, a refined talent.

I hear he has plenty of future ambitions in the world of Irish politics and not coaching.

I hope he plays his best for the rest of the season at Leinster and gets a deserved birth on the Lions tour. If he can meet the quota he is an invaluable player. If he does retire from International rugby he will never be forgotten.

Because he is too old. And his body cannot take it any more.

the standard of centre play is very poor in the Northern Hemisphere.

Drico even though he is creaking is still the best the NH has to offer. He did not do much in a struggling team riddled with injuries. He cannot carry Ireland single handedly any more but he should still start for the lions if fit.

A pairing of Tuilagi with Roberts or Davies is physical but so one dimensional. Their basic skills will be shown up by the Aussie backs

I fear for the Lions on a dry track if they do not utterly smash the Aussies up front.

As Rodders says, he's not retiring. He'll still be running out in the 13 jersey long after Cian Healy dies on the jax on his 44th birthday with 2 cheeseburgers in his gob.

O'Driscoll is probably the best northern hemisphere player of the professional era, I first saw him at St Helens as a very young man playing for Leinster, he could do everything. He was the best tackler, tactical kicker, passer, etc. He could ruck and maul with the forwards, and had blistering pace.

Sadly the player in green with no13 on his back in the last two rounds of the 6N was a shaddow of this superstar who looked as though he was desperately trying to drag his body through the final games of his career.

He has already played one season too many, lets remember him as he was in his prime, the best of a generation.