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Brian O'Driscoll to receive Irish Post award

Brian O'Driscoll on duty for Ireland

Brian O’Driscoll will receive the Outstanding Contribution to Sport Award at November’s Irish Post Awards, celebrating a career that helped transform the ambitions of Irish rugby

O'Driscoll bossing it for Leinster against Leicester Tigers (Wikimedia Commons, CC-BY-2.0)

THERE are sporting moments that remain vivid long after the score has faded from memory. Brian O’Driscoll running through the French defence in Paris in 2000 is one of them.

Anyone who witnessed that match — live or on television — will know that this was the start of a new era.

Against France in the Six Nations that afternoon, O’Driscoll’s three tries announced an extraordinary talent. For Irish supporters accustomed to travelling more in hope than expectation, here was something wonderfully different: a young centre who appeared entirely unconvinced that France were supposed to win.

The Clontarf man’s arrival on the international stage helped transform Ireland from a very useful, but an inconsistent force into a team capable of challenging, and beating, the world’s best. His brilliance and leadership, notably as captain of the 2009 Grand Slam-winning side, helped establish a new level of ambition and belief. Ireland would first reach number one in the world rankings in 2019, five years after his retirement, and currently stand third, behind South Africa and New Zealand. That rise in stature owes much to successive generations of players and coaches, but O’Driscoll’s part in laying the foundations remains an enduring legacy.

This November, O’Driscoll will receive the Outstanding Contribution to Sport Award at The Irish Post Awards, taking place at London’s Grosvenor House Hotel on November 26. It recognises a career that brought distinction to Irish sport and gave supporters at home and abroad some unforgettable afternoons.

Across 133 appearances for Ireland, O’Driscoll scored 46 tries. He captained his country on 83 occasions, combining individual brilliance with the responsibility of leading a team whose ambitions grew considerably during his playing years.

The dazzling footwork attracted attention first. There was acceleration, balance and an instinct for spotting a gap almost before it existed. Defenders could do their homework and still find themselves reaching for somebody who had already gone.

But the highlights reel tells only part of the story. O’Driscoll became a formidable defender, a determined competitor over the ball and a player willing to put himself wherever the contest demanded. His partnership with Gordon D’Arcy gave Ireland and Leinster a midfield of exceptional understanding.

The great collective reward arrived in 2009, when he captained Ireland to their first Grand Slam since 1948. After years of near misses, the victory in Cardiff delivered the championship and the clean sweep that generations of supporters had waited to celebrate.

There was European success, too. With Leinster, O’Driscoll won three Heineken Cups, helping establish the province among the continent’s leading sides. The boy who became an international star remained central to the success of his home team.

His standing extended well beyond Ireland. Selected for four British and Irish Lions tours, he won eight Test caps and captained the 2005 expedition to New Zealand. His superb try against Australia in Brisbane in 2001 remains an enduring image of Lions rugby.

International retirement brought another fitting Parisian chapter. In March 2014, Ireland beat France 22–20 to secure the Six Nations title in his final Test. Fourteen years after that breakthrough hat-trick, he left the international stage in the same city, with another championship to celebrate.

Induction into the World Rugby Hall of Fame followed in 2016.

O’Driscoll helped make excellence feel attainable and victory something Ireland could expect to pursue against the best.

At the Irish Post Awards, the applause will celebrate the medals and milestones. It will also honour the excitement, pride and possibility he brought to wearing the green jersey.