O’Gara had been recalled and became the first player to score 500 points in the tournaments landing all of his six kicks on goal – this is likely to be an ongoing competition between Ronan and Johnny Wilkinson for some time we think!

Jamie Heaslip and Tomas O’Leary both got first half tries, and Italy squeezed on over just before half time (despite being down to 14 men with Gonzalo Garcia in the sin-bin) with Kaine Robertson charging down Rob Kearney’s kick.

It was 23-8 by the break.

Italy scored shortly after on the 44th minute and there was no way Ireland were going to let them get another, even with a massive lull in play and a poor kicking session with O’Gara being the main culprit.

Paddy Wallace came on to take over kicking duties and got another penalty to tie up the game 29-11.

O’Driscoll said:
“It’s not easy to click immediately having only been together for two weeks and not having played together since November,”

Much improvement will be needed for the rest of the tournament!

O’Driscoll was the only Irishman included in the Rugby World magazine’s Team of the Decade featuring seven North Hemisphere players and nine from the South.

RUGBY WORLD TEAM OF THE DECADE: Mils Muliana (New Zealand); Jason Robinson (England), Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland), Matt Giteau (Australia), Shane Williams (Wales); Dan Carter (New Zealand), Agustin Pichot (Argentina); Gethin Jenkins (Wales), John Smit (South Africa), Carl Hayman (New Zealand), Martin Johnson (England) (capt), Victor Matfield (South Africa), Richard Hill (England), Richie McCaw (New Zealand), Sergio Parisse (Italy).

Replacements: Rodrigo Roncero (Argentina), Mario Ledesma (Argentina), Sylvain Marconnet (France), Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe (Argentina), Fourie Du Preez (South Africa), Jonny Wilkinson (England), Yannick Jauzion (France), Juan Martin Hernandez (Argentina).

With a winter wonderland surrounding them, vast amounts of salt was scattered around the entrance to St Columba’s Chuch to avoid any injury to the pride of Irish rugby in attendance.

Almost all of the Ireland, Munster and Leinster players were there, along with some international stars such as Dougie Howlett (All Blacks), Lifeimi Mafi (Tonga) and Tigers captain Geordan Murphy. The bride’s cousin had a dual role on the day as well as being family he is Donncha’s captain at international level – yes none other than Brian O’Driscoll!

Rugby fans gathered at the church to congratulate the happy couple, with a handful eager to gather autographs from the assembled galaxy of stars.

Our pictures show Donncha looking a little less clean cut during the famous victory that capped their first grand slam in 60 years!

The full list are:
Ireland – Brian O’Driscoll
Ireland – Jamie Heaslip
England – Tom Croft
New Zealand – Richie McCaw
Australia – Matt Giteau
South Africa – Francois Steyn
South Africa – Fourie du Preez

O’Driscoll will be favourite to the second Irishman to win after Keith Wood won in 2001, to win this would conclude an unbelievable year for O’Driscoll. A year which has included winning the RBS Six Nations Player of the Tournament on his way to Ireland’s second Grand Slam, playing in the Lions tour and winning the Heinken Cup. The recent game against Australia took O’Driscoll into the elite group of people who’ve pulled on international shirts 100 times (including 6 for the British and Irish Lions!).

Best of luck Brian!

Australia had stepped up a gear after their defeat of England last week and delivered a much more polished performance with Rocky Elsom at the helm. O’Driscoll’s first touch (fumble) gifted Australia a lead, but if there was ever a time for O’Driscoll magic it was in the last minute to level the game (with the help of O’Gara’s conversion) in his 100th test!

Ireland haven’t played together for six months and will now know how much work they need to do before they meet the Springboks in a fortnight. The scrum was dismantled and John Hayes had a terrible time in what proved to be a very tight game mastered in some ways by Quade Cooper who looked like he’d played Test rugby for years! Ireland’s kicks were rarely as perfect!

The game ran in bits and bobs with Giteau and Elsom making good breaks, O’Gara’s unorthodox chip penalty just couldn’t reach Tommy Bowe in the wing.

By half time the score was 10-6, Matt Giteau landing one penalty to O’Gara’s two and adding it to Mitchell’s try from the early O’Driscoll mistake.

The second half was even better for Australia, ironing out the early mistakes in the forwards leaving little for Ireland to play off. Giteau missed one penalty and landed the other after 55 minutes – with Australia having 70% second half territory and possession.

Cian Healy wasn’t having the best of debuts in the tight, but in the loose really pushed himself winning the restart and heading straight for the 22. Eight phases culminated in a double pass move for Bowe to go over the line.

At thirteen all, Australia simply carried straight on. Healy again in the thick of it was turned over and Wallabies moved side to side before Elsom powered into the corner. Converted by Giteau and it looked like it was all over.

Australia running on empty were besieged by Ireland in the last ten (a time of the game Ireland are used to fighting from), two penalties given away by Australia in the corner resulting in a team warning. From the next phase Tommy Bowe was held up in the corner, the scrum was solid and Tomas O’Leary delayed his pass perfectly to find the right one of the three runners. The Australian centres parted and O’Driscoll waltzed over the line!

Highlights:

O’Driscoll will be 31 for next year’s RBS Six Nations, but Cheika believes age is all in the mind.

“In my mind, he can certainly play beyond the World Cup. Smart players, players that can think a game, inevitably get even more valuable as they get older. They might lose some of the physical attributes but they gain in experience which makes them a threat in a different way.”

“In O’Driscoll’s case, there is then the fact that he is such a key influence on the rest of the squad. It is good to have him around young guys. So I would certainly not see him finishing at the next World Cup.”

“Frankly, I don’t like the idea of putting full stops on those things… players’ careers… because then it is like you have to start rushing to get everything in before they finish. I think Brian should just keep going, enjoy the game. You keep pushing yourself to be better; that is what is important.”

Some people thought his ambition and drive might drop after driving Leinster to a first ever Heineken Cup win and Ireland to a first Grand Slam win for over 60 years – 11 years is a long time in international rugby! Not in O’Driscoll’s case, it’s clear that he he still has challenges and ambitions he want to achieve – and that can only be good for both Ireland and Leinster.

Brian O’Driscoll is undoubtedly one of the British and Irish Lions’ greatest assets at present but he has sadly had one of the worst runs of luck in the squad. During the course of the 2005 Lions’ tour when he captained the team, he didn’t make it past the first minute of the first test. This was due to a spear tackle in which two All Blacks concussed him.

This time around the Leinster centre managed to make it through all of the team’s matches including the first two tests against the Springboks. He has been truly invaluable and is a source of inspiration to many of the younger players on the team.

His tour was cut short this time as a result of a concussion sustained by a tackle during the second Test. He is now to fly home with Adam Jones and wants to ensure that he gets the maximum amount of time possible to ensure his recuperation before the start of the 2009/2010 season in Europe.

While his departure is no doubt a loss for the Lions, it does represent an opportunity for English centre Riki Flutey and could be the start of something great for him.

The first test between the Lions and the Springboks showed that there is likely to be a very high level of intensity when these two great teams take each other on once again. The first encounter was described by the Lions’ coaching staff as a “bruising” one. From the spectators’ point of view, it would seem that this label is probably the understatement of the year.

All in all there were nine Lions players that got an honourable mention by the team’s doctor today. First up was Lee Byrne with a strained foot injury, the team’s medical staff is working to ensure that he will be fit for selection come Tuesday. Another strained muscle was the case for Tom Croft as well who came off after he complained of calf trouble. Aqua therapy has sorted him out though and the medical staff is confident that he will be right as rain in no time.

Bruises were the order of the day for Gethin Jenkins, Adam Jones, Lee Mears and Paul O’Connell but all of these have been seen to and are not serious at all. Jamie Roberts and Brian O’Driscoll both presented the team with cause for concern after they were involved in collisions on the field. These injuries will take a bit of extra work on the part of the players and the doctors but again there is full confidence that they will be rearing to go, come the next test.

Given some of the footage from the game, it seems as if the Lions have gotten off quite lightly as it could have been a completely different story. The team has proved that the players are strong and the full force of the Lions’ attack will be felt later in the week. Good news for the doctors and the touring side.

Brian O’Driscoll experienced this feeling when the announcement was made that he has been voted as IRUPA Players’ Player of the Year. This continues an incredible year that he has had with some of the most amazing rugby performances of his career thus far.

The center said that this was like a dream come true and something that he has waited for seven years to accomplish. The season has seen him lead Ireland to victory in the 6 Nations tournament and more recently he was instrumental in ensuring Leinster’s place in the Heineken Cup Final.

Great things are expected from him in the final next week and then of course during the British and Irish Lions’ Tour to South Africa later this month.

These actions have not gone unnoticed and it was announced that Brian O’Driscoll has been recognized as the RBS Player of the Championship for his incredible performance in this year’s 6 Nations tournament.

The player took the news as only a gentleman would, with continued modesty. He was thrilled at the news and especially at the end of what he said has been a fantastic week. He attributed his success to the support of the team and is looking forward to basking in the continued glow of the grand slam.

As he stated, this really has been an incredible week and Irish rugby continues to draw the attention of fans the world over.