Brian O'Driscoll is an Irish international rugby union player who retired at the end of the 2013–14 season. He is a former captain of Ireland and also captained the British & Irish Lions. O'Driscoll, who spent the majority of his career playing at centre, made 133 appearances for Ireland, scoring 46 tries—an Irish record. In addition to this he made eight appearances for the Lions and scored one try, which occurred during the Lions' victory over Australia on the 2001 tour. , and with a combined total of 47 international tries, O'Driscoll sits eighth on the all-time record list, and is also top of the all-time try-scoring list for the Six Nations with 26. In addition, he retired with 141 caps in all, which at that time was the most in the sport's history (this record has since been surpassed by Richie McCaw of New Zealand [148 caps], Sergio Parisse of Italy and Alun Wyn Jones of Wales [also 142]).
O'Driscoll made his international debut on 12 June 1999 against Australia at the Ballymore Stadium in Brisbane. He scored his first try for Ireland during his fourth match, against the United States in the 1999 Rugby World Cup at Lansdowne Road. It was the first of 19 tries O'Driscoll scored there (including 2 after the venue was redeveloped as the Aviva Stadium) which, , is a record. O'Driscoll went on to score tries in the 2003, 2007 and 2011 Rugby World Cup tournaments. His 33rd international try earned him the IRPA Try of the Year award in 2008 for a team try scored during Ireland's 18–12 defeat against Australia. Starting from a lineout inside their own 22, Ireland caught their own kick as they moved up to the halfway line. An exchange of passes culminated with O'Driscoll receiving the ball out before scoring.
O'Driscoll scored multiple tries in a single international on six occasions, included in these were two hat-tricks. The first of these was scored against France during the 2000 Six Nations and the second came against Scotland in the 2002 Six Nations. O'Driscoll, who scored tries against all of the "Tier 1" nations, was most prolific against France, scoring eight times.
Key
Won denotes that the match was won by the side O'Driscoll was playing for. Lost denotes that the match was lost by the side O'Driscoll was playing for. Drawn denotes that the match was drawn. * denotes the try was scored while playing for the British & Irish Lions. denotes the try was selected as the IRPA Try of the Year.
International tries +International rugby union tries by Brian O'Driscoll Try Opposing team Venue Competition Date Result Score Ref. 1 Lansdowne Road, Dublin 1999 Rugby World Cup Won 53–8 2 2000 Six Nations Championship Won 44–22 3 Won 60–13 4 Stade de France, Saint-Denis 2000 Six Nations Championship Won 27–25 5 6 7 Lansdowne Road, Dublin Test match Won 78–9 8 9 2001 Six Nations Championship Won 22–15 10* Brisbane Cricket Ground, Brisbane 2001 British & Irish Lions tour to Australia Won 29–13 11 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 2001 Six Nations Championship Won 36–6 12 Lansdowne Road, Dublin 2002 Six Nations Championship Won 43–22 13 14 15 Thomond Park, Limerick Test match Won 39–8 16 Lansdowne Road, Dublin 2003 Rugby World Cup – European qualification Won 63–14 17 18 Test match Won 64–17 19 Stadio Flaminio, Rome 2003 Six Nations Championship Won 37–13 20 Docklands Stadium, Melbourne 2003 Rugby World Cup Lost 16–17 21 Lost 21–43 22 23 Lansdowne Road, Dublin 2004 Six Nations Championship Won 36–15 24 25 Won 19–3 26 Newlands Stadium, Cape Town Test match Lost 17–26 27 Lansdowne Road, Dublin 2005 Six Nations Championship Won 19–13 28 Lost 19–26 29 Waikato Stadium, Hamilton Test match Lost 23–34 30 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 2007 Six Nations Championship Won 19–9 31 Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux 2007 Rugby World Cup Won 32–17 32 Parc des Princes, Paris Lost 15–30 33 Docklands Stadium, Melbourne Lansdowne Cup Lost 12–18 34 Croke Park, Dublin 2009 Six Nations Championship Won 30–21 35 Stadio Flaminio, Rome Won 38–9 36 Croke Park, Dublin Won 14–13 37 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Won 17–15 38 Croke Park, Dublin Lansdowne Cup Drawn 20–20 39 RDS Arena, Dublin Test match Won 41–6 40 Croke Park, Dublin 2010 Six Nations Championship Lost 20–23 41 Yarrow Stadium, New Plymouth Test match Lost 28–66 42 Aviva Stadium, Dublin Lost 18–38 43 Stadio Flaminio, Rome 2011 Six Nations Championship Won 13–11 44 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Lost 13–19 45 Aviva Stadium, Dublin Won 24–8 46 Otago Stadium, Dunedin 2011 Rugby World Cup Won 36–6 47 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff 2013 Six Nations Championship Won 30–22
References
External links O'Driscoll's tries at Statsguru Brian O'Driscoll's best tries: 1999–2009