The Greatest: Outside centre
No surprises here, a certain Brian O'Driscoll was a country mile ahead of anyone else, taking a whopping 71 per cent of your votes.
No surprises here, a certain Brian Gerald O'Driscoll was a country mile ahead of anyone else, taking a whopping 71 per cent of your votes.
It seems there wasn't much to argue about, your overwhelming support for BOD in the number thirteen jersey is the clearest choice in our series of polls so far.
2008's “Dubliner of The Year” (according to The Dubliner magazine) is on the brink of winning his 100th Test cap. With 93 caps in the green of Ireland to add to his six for the British and Irish Lions, O'Driscoll is undoubtedly one of the stand-out figures of the modern game.
No one has score more tries for Ireland (36). He has led his country on more occasions than anyone else (53). And just when murmurs of 'he's over the hill' started to emerge last year, BOD replied with one of his best ever seasons to add the Heineken Cup and a Grand Slam to an already-impressive list of achievements last season.
Born in Dublin on 21 January 1979, O'Driscoll rose through the ranks of Irish School-boy rugby to win the IRB U19 World Championship in 1998. His debut for the Irish senior team wasn't long in coming as he earned his fist Test cap as a fresh-faced 20-year-old against the Wallabies in June 1999 at Ballymore.
The 1999 World Cup would follow, where O'Driscoll played in all four of Ireland's games, scoring his first try against the USA.
A hat-trick of tries against France in an historic win in Paris in 2000 would be a stepping stone towards a place the 2001 British and Irish Lions team to tour Australia, where he played in all three Tests.
The following year BOD would captain Ireland for the first time, again in Australia, before eventually taking over the reigns after Keith Wood's retirement in 2004, winning the triple crown in the Six Nations.
2005 was a year of contrasts as the honour of being awarded the Lions captaincy was followed by the disappointment of missing business end of the tour to New Zealand after suffering a dislocated shoulder in the first Test defeat to the All Blacks in controversial circumstances.
The same year he would lead Leinster to the Heineken Cup semi-finals and signed a contract with province until 2011.
Ireland's second Triple Crown in three seasons under O'Driscoll 's captaincy came in 2006.
The following year would be another one of contrasts as a third Triple Crown was dampered by a disappointing World Cup.
The Six Nations Player of the Tournament in 2006, 2007 and 2009 would be part of an-Irish heavy Lions team to head to South Africa where injury would once again cut his tour short, missing the third Test.
Now check out the polling section below the features box on the front page to vote for the inside centre of the professional era… hurry, you only have 48 hours from the time this article was published!