Brian O’Driscoll’s five standout British and Irish Lions stars who continue to perform at a ‘very, very high level’
Jamison Gibson-Park and Finn Russell celebrating the British and Irish Lions' series victory, and legendary centre Brian O'Driscoll.
Brian O’Driscoll has named the five players who have been critical to the British and Irish Lions’ series victory over the Wallabies.
Andy Farrell’s men have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-Test tour and will look to complete the whitewash in Sydney on Saturday.
Although they have perhaps not reached their potential, the Lions have managed to get the job done with 27-19 and 29-26 triumphs in Brisbane in Melbourne respectively.
There have also been a number of excellent individual performances and O’Driscoll selected those who have impressed him the most in the 2025 series.
The 2025 Lions stars
“For me there’s probably been five standout players: Finn Russell, Jamison Gibson-Park, Dan Sheehan and the two back-rowers in [Tom] Curry and [Tadhg] Beirne. I think all have had terrific tours,” the Lions legend told Off The Ball.
“I think it’s a toss-up between many of them for player of the series, and it will go down to the final game.”
O’Driscoll also highlighted a factor of this tour which has perhaps been overlooked when assessing the performances of the players and makes their achievement all the more outstanding.
The Lions may have been expected to dispatch Australia more comfortably than they have done but the tourists are at the end of a long season.
“The workload management, the professionalism, the understanding of where they are in their careers, the injuries they’re undoubtedly carrying – all of that taken into account – it’s been pretty impressive what we have seen from all of these players,” O’Driscoll said.
“It’s a near 12-month season and still delivering at a very, very high level right at the finale. It’s part of the modern game, just at the next level and next iteration of what professionalism looks like.”
Chance of history
There is certainly satisfaction from the tourists’ perspective over their series success in Australia, but they will no doubt want more in the third match in Sydney.
No Lions team since the great 1974 outfit have won three Tests in a row, while the last squad to whitewash the opposition was almost a century ago in 1927.
The game has obviously changed quite significantly over that time with the number of players on tour being matched by the size of the backroom team.
O’Driscoll also reserved praise for that group of people headed by boss Farrell for what they have contributed to this triumph down under.
“They’re (the players) kind of setting their own standards but at the same time Aled Walters (S&C coach) and the coaching staff should be patted on the back for a job well done,” he added.
“Now it’s just one more game to close out and hopefully they can get the whitewash.”
