THE CENTRE WHO MADE BOD BETTER

D’Arcy was a superb talent who, in tandem with his long-time partner, changed Irish rugby

SUCCESS has come to define Gordon D’Arcy. He has been part of winning sides throughout his long career and it’s no wonder we used to refer to him as the ‘common denominator’ because D’Arcy is the ultimate team man.

The traits he possesses are rare and won’t re c e i ve t he ai r t i me t hat surrounded Brian O’Driscoll as his former centre partner departed the rugby stage last season, but they are just as worthy of acclaim.

Whereas Brian received extended fanfare, Gordon’s exit from the game has been more or less confirmed by his absence on press releases from Ireland and Leinster. First, he was excluded from the Ireland panel for rounds four and five of the Six Nations and, this week, Leinster made no mention of him as they confirmed their squad for next season.

Of the two men, Gordon has arguably had the more challenging career given his struggles after becoming Ireland’s youngest World Cup player at 19 and then his fight with an arm injury that almost ended his playing days at 28.

As a centre pairing, D’Arcy and O’Driscoll were responsible for dramatically changing the way Ireland and Leinster played and not just in attack, they started the trend of the midfield forager and did away with the old concept that the openside flanker had to be the first man at the breakdown.

They spent over a decade making each other look good and, although the praise for Brian is fully deserved, D’Arcy has certainly been underappreciated by comparison.

I often wonder how much more Gordon could have achieved had it not been for Brian, especially when it came to the Lions, where the two of them were perhaps seen as too similar in an environment where coaches placed an emphasis on power and physicality. We waited so long for a world-class outside centre to fill the void left by Brendan Mullin and then, within a couple of years of Brian’s emergence, we had two.

People tend to forget Gordon began his rugby life as a full-back and a winger, where the skillsets are very different, but after switching to midfield, he proved brilliantly effective at both inside and outside centre.

Gordon actually made his Ireland re-emergence in the No13 shirt when Brian was injured ahead of the France game in 2004 and he was exceptional in that Six Nations. That was clear when he was the best centre on the pitch in the win over England at Twickenham, however, Brian’s presence always attracted a lot of attention which probably gave D’Arcy more room. For me that match was Gordon’s and Ireland’s big breakthrough to what transpired over the following decade and more.

I played against Romania at Lansdowne Road in the World Cup game where Gordon made his Ireland debut back in October 1999, but my first memory of him is from the summer tour to Australia earlier that year where Gordon turned up to an Irish training session as he spent a summer Down Under and was automatically dubbed ‘Swampy’.

Brian and Ciaran Scally were the other two rising talents on that tour and I remember they were hyping up Gordon to the rest of us. ‘Wait till you see how quick this guy is,’ they warned, but then this chunky, overweight guy emerged and we were left a little underwhelmed!

WHAT developed from there, however, was a clone of O’Driscoll and, although on a few rare occasions they were physically overwhelmed by the bigger Polynesian and French centre partnerships, they consistently punched above their weight to great effect.

Gordon, in particular did so well to find the hidden yards around the congested inside channel with his agility, while his leg drive allowed him to gain ground and buy time for his support cleaners after contact.

It was that mixture of smarts and competitiveness that made D’Arcy one of the first names on the teamsheet.

The respect Gordon is held in by his team-mates is evidenced by the fact he twice won the IRUPA Player’s Player of the Year award – a feat not matched by O’Driscoll or even Paul O’Connell.

It’s amazing how much he does for those around him and he has as much time for old-school retirees like myself and his former team-mates from the late 1990s and early 2000s as he does for a younger player trying to break through.

In Ireland camp, he still helps Rala out carrying bags and it reinforces the down to earth guy that he is. There’s a holistic approach from Gordon and even now, when selections aren’t going his way for Ireland and Leinster, there isn’t a hint of discontent when other veteran guys with big egos would start to moan.

A lot of the Leinster team from around the time we won the Celtic League final in 2001 (below) meet up every Christmas and Gordon definitely treats it like a highlight in the calendar.

Maybe it’s because he’s seen how many of us have transitioned out of rugby that he has take so much care in preparing to join the workforce. As a player he adjusted to what was in front of him and he’s doing that off the pitch too.

Now that he has finished his economics degree in UCD, D’Arcy’s internship with Investec has brought about a job offer to complement his business interests with his bar and the Pilates and yoga studio he runs with his wife.

But it’s not over just yet. I know he is desperate to play in the World Cup and if the Dragons game goes well today he might force his way back in to Leinster’s Champions Cup plans for Toulon next weekend and from there, who knows?

Last year, the trumpets sounded loudly for Brian O’Driscoll and whenever the time comes nobody should deny Gordon D’Arcy that same honour.

How much more could Gordon have achieved if it were not for O’Driscoll? Particularly for the Lions