No fairytale finish as BOD bows out early
BRIAN O’DRISCOLL must have allowed himself to dream about the end. At points over the past year, he must have wondered how his final appearance would feel. And as the date drew closer and the weeks turned to days and hours, he must have indulged in the fantasy of goodbye.
The reality was brutally, wretchedly different. This is how it ended: after seven minutes, O’Driscoll got treated for an injury that appeared to affect his right knee. He flexed it gingerly but waved away the medics.
A minute later, trying to close down a Glasgow clearance, the pain became too much. He limped heavily, could be seen mouthing a soft oath, and stopped. The rugby career of Brian O’Driscoll was at an end.
He was obliged to walk across the width of the field to reach the Leinster dugout. When a coach wants to reward a player who has done well or who is playing a significant game, they like to substitute them when the ball is on the far side of the field, so they can take the acclaim of supporters on a long march off.
There was a standing ovation for O’Driscoll but this was not the way he would have imagined walking from the RDS pitch. He took supportive strapping off his hands and wrists as he headed for the replacements’ seats. The days of tributes and reviews confirmed the legend, but his legacy will stand on the feats of other days.
He hardly had time to break a sweat here.
A Dublin radio station was giving out O’Driscoll face masks to supporters before the game. The image was of a smiling superstar, but a more accurate representation by 6.30 would have featured a mournful frown.
It was a day of final acts: the last pre-match meal, the last goodbye to family as he left for the match, the last dressing-room bubbling with nerves and the compensating bravado. He would not have thought his final departure from a rugby field would have been accompanied by a shaking head and a fresh, blasted new ache.
Sport guarantees no fairytales. It is too human and so too unpredictable for that. O’Driscoll’s greatness will not be damaged by last night’s premature farewell, but nor was he granted the picture-book adieu he received playing for Ireland last March.
People wonder how Leinster will move on without him and that other lost leader, Leo Cullen. The latter only appeared into the action in the last quarter here, unable to break past Devin Toner and Mike McCarthy in the second row.
There was the proof that Leinster have already started to move on, and they will live without O’Driscoll, too. They had to do so here for most of the contest, and against opponents showing just how much they have improved over the past 18 months.
Their coach Gregor Townsend has admitted Leinster have been one of the inspirations for the kind of inventive, energetic game he has introduced to such lauded effect. They made Leinster sweat for most of the match, the latter’s efficiency rewarding them with two tries from their only two meaningful attacks in the opening period.
If Leinster lack vim of the Joe Schmidt era, they are durable and seasoned by years of competing at the highest level. O’Driscoll and Cullen led them on their very best days but some of the lieutenants they nurtured were needed here.
They delivered. Sean Cronin, Jamie Heaslip, Eoin Reddan and Rob Kearney are the second generation of Ireland’s professional stars and they showed a long time ago they could maintain the standards set by the pioneers like O’Driscoll and Cullen.
The old-timers did not allow themselves be forgotten, however. Cullen had won two penalties within minutes of being introduced, and Gordon D’Arcy, for so long O’Driscoll’s Art Garfunkel, withstood a painfullooking injury to his own right leg to extend an outstanding season.
He made a decisive contribution to the Zane Kirchner try that confirmed the Leinster win before dotting down himself seconds later. Leinster were partying with five minutes left to play, and supporters celebrated departing greats but also the possibility of more good days to come. O’Driscoll and Cullen said goodbye, but Leinster live for future glory.