Brian O'Driscoll

Brian O'Driscoll was born on 21st January 1979 in Dublin and is the current Ireland rugby team captain playing at number 13 on both sides.
Having played his first rugby match at 11 years of age for Willow Park National School, he moved on to Blackrock College where he developed a passionate interest in the game of rugby. He gained international recognition for the first time in 1996 gaining 3 caps for Irish schools.
As a member of the Irish team that won the IRB under-19 World Cup in France in 1998 Brian was selected for the senior Irish squad in April 1999. In 2001 he was selected for the British and Irish Lions Tour to Australia, appearing in all 3 tests.
In 2003, he was awarded the Irish captaincy. O' Driscoll then led Ireland to a second-place finish in the Six Nations, and in the process, a Triple Crown in 2005. In 2005, O' Driscoll also became Ireland's first Lions captain since Ciaran Fitzgerald in 1983 and was selected to lead the Lions on the tour to New Zealand. He lead Ireland to two more Triple Crown triumphs in 2006 and 2007, and was named as the RBS Player of the Six Nations in both years.
In 2009, O’Driscoll led Ireland as captain to win the Triple Crown, The Six Nations Championship and their first Grand Slam in 61 years. He was named as player of the 2009 Six Nations Championship and in May 2009 the Bord Gais IRUPA Players’ player of the year for the past season.
In January 2012, he was voted World Rugby Player of the decade (2000-20009) by the influential magazine Rugby World. In the 2010-2011 season, Brian along with his Leinster colleagues won their second Heineken Cup Championship.