As expected, Keith Wood announced his retirement from rugby immediately after Ireland’s defeat to France, and Brian was immediately reinstated as captain for the Six Nations campaign in the spring.
Ironically, Ireland had to face France in Paris in the first round of fixtures, and unfortunately for Brian the game turned out to be a recurring nightmare of the World Cup quarter-final as Ireland crashed to a 35–17 defeat in similar style to their World Cup exit. The Grand Slam chance may have been lost, but this was an Ireland side that needed to show the world that they were maturing fast and that the day when they would be winning major trophies was near.
At home to a lacklustre Wales side, Brian turned on the class, scoring two of Ireland’s six tries as they stormed to a commanding 36–15 victory. Next up came an away match against the newly crowned world champions, England, who had crushed Italy and Scotland in their opening two fixtures, despite having to do without an injured Jonny Wilkinson and a number of retirements following the World Cup triumph.
England scored the only try of the first half through Matt Dawson but some superb kicking from Ronan saw the visitors take a 12–10 lead at the break. However, England came out firing in the second half and Ben Cohen went over only for the video referee to rule out the try for a double movement. This seemed to inspire Brian and within minutes he made a superb break, the ball was spread wide and Leinster full-back Girvan Dempsey crossed over in the corner. Ronan converted, and England could only offer a Paul Grayson penalty in response, giving Ireland an incredible 19–12 victory against the world champions, thanks largely to some stubborn and determined defending.
After the game, Brian could not hide his delight and the normally reserved and quiet Ireland captain could not wait to tell the world that this side had arrived on the world rugby scene and meant business. At long last, the young team that had shown so much promise had finally delivered the goods.
A fortnight later, Ireland consolidated their excellent performance against England when Brian guided his side to a 19–3 home win against Italy, which included a try of his own. Going into the final round of fixtures, the Triple Crown was still on, but, realistically, the Championship was out of the question unless England managed to thrash France by an enormous margin. Instead, Brian had to focus all his attentions on beating Scotland at Lansdowne Road. The game also saw Brian notch up his 50th cap for Ireland at the age of just 25. He was keen to make this a day for all Irish rugby fans to remember, a day when they finally had a trophy to parade around their historic home ground, which was the oldest in the world.
The home side had a nervy first period against a fired-up Scotland team but Geordan Murphy’s try just before the break gave Ireland a 16–9 lead; however, the visitors did level the scores with an Ali Hogg try on 48 minutes. This Scotland side was clearly keen on causing an upset after a dreadful tournament to date. However, three tries in the final 24 minutes, including a second for Gordon D’Arcy, sealed the win for Ireland. The final quarter of the game was hardly vintage rugby from either side, but Ireland had done enough.
Finally, Ireland had something to show for their efforts: the Triple Crown. After years of showing promise but failing on the big occasion, this was a massive sign that things were finally starting to come together for this promising young squad. The final game was a quiet one by Brian’s standards, but his impact in earlier matches had been enormous and his efforts as both player and captain had been pivotal in contributing to Ireland’s historic achievement.
Brian celebrated with a night at Kehoe’s Bar in Dublin. This was a day to remember. But Brian was also aware that, from now on, this was the minimum requirement, and that next year, and thereafter, the fans expected even better from the team.
That autumn, Brian led his team out at Lansdowne Road to face a South Africa side that had been rejuvenated under the stewardship of coach Jake White. Ronan scored all Ireland’s points as they beat the Southern Hemisphere giants 17–12, but the win was in no small part down to Brian’s no-nonsense approach from start to finish. Ireland had defended and tackled superbly and richly deserved this victory. They consolidated this with an expected thrashing of the USA, before ending the autumn series by beating a rapidly improving Argentina side 21–19, with Ronan providing all the points once again.
Brian might not have managed to get his name on the scoresheet against South Africa and Argentina, but he had steered Ireland to two memorable victories, and had led by example by giving his best from start to finish. After a shaky start, 2004 had ended on a high, and it seemed that, after over five years of preparation, this Ireland side had finally come of age. Things were not perfect, and a number of players were far from the finished article, but it was clear that Ireland were to be a major force in world rugby in the years ahead. The years of patient preparation had finally paid off, and the reality was that Brian was now the captain of one of the world’s best rugby teams.
Brian’s status as one of the world’s greatest centres was secure, but he was quickly developing a reputation as a strong leader and great motivator of those around him. With such status comes increased responsibility and raised expectations, and Brian knew that the year ahead would be one of the most important of his life.
The following year, 2005, was always going to be pivotal in Brian’s career. He was now 25 years old, and the previous few years had seen him mature rapidly as a person; the stature and esteem in which he was held by both his team-mates and rugby fans in Ireland and beyond had risen sharply.
On paper, it looked like being a gruelling 12 months, and expectations were high. Leinster were in with a very real chance of winning the Heineken Cup. The Ireland team looked stronger than ever, and fans were expecting nothing less than their country capturing their first Grand Slam in 57 years.
There was to be no summer break. Brian would undoubtedly be selected for the Lions tour to New Zealand, where they would be looking to win a Test Series against the All Blacks for only the second time.
The year got off to a bad start, when on the evening of New Year’s Day Brian lined up for Leinster to take on old rivals Munster at Musgrave Park. Brian had never found it difficult to psych himself up for matches against Munster, and was fully prepared for the challenging 80 minutes that lay ahead. This was his chance to get an important year off to the best possible start, and he didn’t want to let the opportunity slip through his hands without a fight.
With both sides at full strength and Munster in superb form, it proved to be a typically physical encounter between the traditional rivals, which saw Irish fly-half Ronan O’Gara breaking a bone in his right hand, leaving a serious question mark over whether he would be available for the early Six Nations fixtures which were now only a month away.
Leinster lost the game 19–13, and Brian’s year had got off to the worst possible start as far as he was concerned. Losing is never pleasant, but, with rivalry between the two provinces so intense, the defeat was especially painful to take.
However, Brian had no time to dwell on this defeat as the following week he had to travel to Bath as Leinster’s quest for Heineken Cup glory continued. Things didn’t look good and with four minutes to go Leinster were trailing 23–13. But there was still time to turn it around, and a late surge saw tries from David Holwell and Malcolm O’Kelly to make it 27–23 at the end.
Bath coach John Connolly knew his team had thrown the game away, and was quick to praise Brian’s contribution. In a post-match interview with the BBC, he said, ‘The guys were focused, the effort was phenomenal but the odd mistake cost us the game and the players are incredibly disappointed. Any team that has Brian O’Driscoll and up to six potential Lions in their line-up always has a chance.’
But Brian was far from happy with his performance in the game, and cursed himself for a sloppy pass he made to Girvan Dempsey early on that probably cost his team a try. That said, a win is a win and Brian’s