Ireland legend Brian O'Driscoll ranks his five toughest opponents

Thursday, 31 December 2020 at 16:51

byRugby Rucker

Take a look at who retired Ireland and Lions centre Brian O'Driscoll has picked his toughest opponents from his stellar rugby career.

Sourcing several Q&A’s from down the years, including one with the Six Nations website, here are his top five opponents:

5. Ma'a Nonu (New Zealand)

Brian O'Driscoll SAID: "Same height as me [5-foot-11] and still 16-stone. Probably the most complete centre in the modern game."

4. Conrad Smith (New Zealand)

Brian O'Driscoll SAID: “I thought Conrad Smith was always one of the really difficult ones. He was nicknamed ‘Snake’ I think because of his hips and it doesn’t look like he’s going that fast but jeez, he can travel."

3. Richard Hill (England)

Brian O'Driscoll SAID: "Richard Hill, England No.6 that won the World Cup in 2003. He was a brilliant teammate but he made that team tick, he was the unsung hero in that world cup win. He was hard! I always liked playing with guys that were nails in the team, that really stood up and never took a backwards step."

2. Yannick Jauzion (France)

Brian O'Driscoll SAID: "Jauzion was just incredible and was so hard to stop, with his offloading ability. France built so much off and around him. 6-foot-4 and probably 17-stone."

1. Jonny Wilkinson (England)

Brian O'Driscoll SAID: “Even to just get a snapshot of what his mind works like now and how he thinks about things is pretty eye-opening as to what sort of detail he went into as a player,”

“He’s an out-and-out perfectionist, he just needs that 10 out of 10. I don’t think you ever achieve it and I think he beats himself up about it, but he got pretty close to 10 a lot of times.”