Welcome Guest   |  Login   |   Signup
JG Logo
Fri, February 10, 2012
Archive Search

Irish Skipper Caps 100th Match With Victory
Padraic Halpin | March 14, 2010

Ireland’s Brian O’Driscoll, center, praised his squad for smart play in the 27-12 win over Wales, keeping Ireland’s hopes alive in the Six Nations tournament. (Reuters Photo/Cathal McNaughton) Ireland’s Brian O’Driscoll, center, praised his squad for smart play in the 27-12 win over Wales, keeping Ireland’s hopes alive in the Six Nations tournament. (Reuters Photo/Cathal McNaughton)
Share This Page
0
0
0
0
Share with google+ :


Post a comment
Please login to post comment

Comments

Be the first to write your opinion!

Dublin. Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll was surprised by the emotion of the occasion on winning his 100th cap in Saturday’s Six Nations victory over Wales.

“It was a different game, a different feeling. Probably more emotional than I thought it would be, but it was a fantastic feeling,” he told a news conference.

O’Driscoll, who made his debut as a 20-year-old in Australia 11 years ago, celebrated by helping the Irish keep alive their slim hopes of retaining the title with a 27-12 win over an undisciplined Welsh side at Croke Park.

“It’s a massive, massive honor for me to have played for my country 100 times, and the reception on the way out was just an extra on winning the game today,” he said.

The two-time British and Irish Lions tour captain, who has scored 38 tries, more than any center in the game, commended his team for playing smart rugby and clinically taking its chances.

Ireland capitalized on the first-half sin-binning of Wales fullback Lee Byrne, and the 31-year-old captain said quick tries from scrumhalf Tomas O’Leary and wing Keith Earls proved Ireland’s ability to turn it on when it matters.

“When they went a man down, we upped the tempo, went after them and played a lot of rugby and they struggled to live with us for that 10 minutes in particular,” he said.

“I think we controlled things pretty well in that aspect and we just played a smart game. We did not try to play too much rugby, but when the opportunities arose we were not afraid to throw the ball around.”

Ireland needs France, to which it lost 33-10 last month, to lose against Italy or England and make up ground on points difference to stand a chance of retaining the Six Nations championship.

O’Driscoll noted Ireland had given itself an “outside chance” of the title, but a possible fifth Triple Crown in seven years would be more than just a consolation prize. Victory at home to Scotland next week would secure that honor.

While Ireland kept alive its title chances, England’s slim hopes flicked out after a dour 15-15 draw at Scotland.

“It was frustrating for both sides and kind of an empty result,” England captain Steve Borthwick said.

The game in Scotland was a mess of passes dropped and missed, though tension was not lacking as the score remained close and play was physical.

All 30 points at Murrayfield came from the boot. Dan Parks struck four penalties and a drop goal for Scotland while Jonny Wilkinson kicked three penalties for England before leaving the game hurt again. His replacement, Toby Flood, kicked England’s remaining points with two more penalties.

Flood had a carefully orchestrated chance to snatch victory after his forwards engineered a drop goal opening in the last minutes, but the Scots charged down his kick.

“What you saw today was an improvement from Italy. [A win] will come,” Scotland coach Andy Robinson said, referring to his team’s 12-6 loss on Feb. 27.




AP, Reuters