Brian consolidated his excellent performance against France by playing consistently well for club and country over the next 12 months, and this led to him receiving a call-up to the Lions squad to tour Australia in the summer of 2001. Brian knew that there was still massive room for improvement in his game and there was still plenty of work to be done, but he knew this was an opportunity to impress on the world stage that he could not afford to miss.
The Lions were coached by Kiwi Graham Henry, who had experienced mixed fortunes as Wales coach over the previous few years. Brian and Graham did not enjoy an especially warm relationship during the tour; the main bone of contention being the importance of the preparation of the players for the midweek sides compared to those playing in the tests. The full extent of the disagreement that existed between Brian and Graham would not fully come to light for another four years.
However, Brian possessed undoubted talent and he was selected to play in all three Tests. It was in the first Test that he really made his presence felt, where he helped the Lions to a memorable win against the Wallabies.
The Lions looked firmly in control from the third minute when Jason Robinson scored in the corner. Brian’s first major act as a Lions player came on 11 minutes, and it wasn’t to be one of his finer moments. Rob Henderson tried passing to Brian, but it was intercepted by Joe Roff who almost broke free for the Wallabies.
He more than made up for any blame that could have been attributed to him in that move in the 32nd minute when he ripped the Australian defence to shreds in spectacular fashion before off-loading to Jason Robinson who drew Andrew Walker, waited, and sent Dafydd James in at the corner for a wonderful score.
However, it was in the second half when the Lions really turned on the class. With a slender 12–3 lead, the Lions could have been forgiven for going on the defensive. Instead, they ripped into the Wallaby rearguard like men possessed.
The forwards maintained a rock-solid base 30 yards out. Jonny Wilkinson fed the ball to Brian and he smashed through the Aussie back-line like a supercharged tank and crashed over the line to send the 12,000 Lions fans in the Gabba crowd into raptures. Brian had shown his class on the world stage with a memorable try.
From then on, the game looked in the bag in a display of free-flowing, open rugby at its best and a further try from Scott Quinnell helped seal a 29–13 win for the Lions. Brian was pivotal in this victory and was playing like a man with far more experience than his 22 years would suggest. Captain Martin Johnson was full of praise for Brian’s efforts, and described the game as one of the best he had ever been involved with or seen.
However, this was to be his best rugby of the tour. In the remaining two Tests, the Lions lost momentum and some of Graham Henry’s preparation methods came into question as the unhappy atmosphere in the camp spilled over into the media, particularly from the newspaper columns of Matt Dawson and Austin Healey. It was even suggested by the media that a number of players were preparing to leave the tour early. In the months that followed, it became clear that the tour was not a happy one, with Henry saying in his own tour diary that he felt ‘betrayed’ by several players, namely those who gave accounts of the inner workings of the camp in their lucrative newspaper columns.
In the second Test at the Telstra Dome, Brian managed to break through the Australian line on a number of occasions but didn’t receive the backup needed to capitalise upon his efforts, and the Lions suffered a humiliating 29–14 defeat.
In the final Test, Brian’s only major contribution to the game was when he was on the receiving end of a high tackle from Herbert, which sent him crashing to the ground. The game was competitive and there was rarely more than a score in it, but ultimately the Lions were the poorer side and fell to a 29–23 defeat, handing Australia the series in the process.
The series was among the most competitive in history, and Brian had been one of the shining lights of the Lions team. He was only 22 years old and there was still a lot of room for improvement, but already he had established himself as one of the best centres in the world and had shown he was unfazed by the big occasion.
Yet in the months that followed the tour, his career saw something of a blip and he was far from at his best for the remainder of the year. Maybe something had to give. His life had changed beyond all recognition in a relatively short space of time. He had gone from being a shy, unassuming schoolboy to rugby superstar and national hero. All of this was going on while he was still in the process of becoming an adult, and it’s arguable that people were expecting too much of him and the pressure was beginning to tell.
That said, in mid-December, he won his first silverware as a professional when Leinster won the inaugural Celtic League. The competition was experiencing all sorts of teething problems and followed a very different format to the one it would eventually settle on. The league, which ended before Christmas, climaxed with a final between Leinster and arch rivals Munster in front of 30,000 fans at Lansdowne Road.
Leinster coach Matt Williams had some notable names in his ranks, including Gordon D’Arcy, Shane Horgan, Malcolm O’Kelly, Denis Hickie and captain Reggie Corrigan. However, it was Munster who made the early running, and went into the break with a 12-6 lead and a man advantage after Eric Miller’s sending off. Ronan O’Gara added another splendid kick after 51 minutes to extend his side’s lead. But if anything, the Munster score seemed to spur Leinster on.
Shane Horgan, later named man of the match, immediately produced another burst deep into Munster territory and Brian maintained the pressure with a break which earned a penalty, and Nathan Spooner’s successful kick left six points between the teams again.
Another Spooner penalty reduced Munster’s lead to three points in the 64th minute after Hickie’s break had earned the chance. Hickie’s involvement was central to the 66th minute try which put Leinster ahead for the first time. His counter-attack saw the ball being fed to Horgan on the burst and the centre off-loaded possession to the overlapping D’Arcy who scored in the corner.
Spooner, who had recovered his composure after a nervous first half, brilliantly added the conversion to extend Leinster’s lead to 19-15. Leinster were now firmly in the ascendency and Brian’s superb chip and chase yielded his side’s second try in five minutes. Oozing a confidence that had been lacking in recent months, he seemed certain to score the try himself but after he was hauled down illegally, Horgan continued to win the race for the try line.
Munster produced a typically battling response as they attempted to fight back, and Anthony Horgan did grab an injury-time try for Munster, but after Ronan O’Gara missed the conversion, referee Nigel Whitehouse blew his whistle. Leinster had done enough to beat their old rivals for the first time in six matches to claim the very first Celtic League title, giving Brian his first silverware in professional rugby.
When the Six Nations came around the following spring, Brian returned to form in spectacular fashion, with Ireland’s third match against Scotland proving to be one of the highlights of his career. The Ireland team took to the field at Lansdowne Road, eager to make amends for the catastrophic defeat to England they had suffered in the last round of matches.
Ireland kept Scotland pinned in their own half for the first 10 minutes, but their only reward came in the first minute through a Humphreys penalty. Gregor Townsend eventually relieved the pressure with a bombshell clearance and, when Mick Galwey fell over at a ruck, Brendan Laney levelled from 35 metres out. Laney kicked another one over just four minutes later to put Scotland in front.
Scotland, playing with the strong breeze, were putting together some excellent passages of keep-ball which had the Irish defence scrambling. The pressure paid off for the visitors when Laney put his third penalty over in the 22nd minute. Ireland were looking down-and-out,