There are more munster fans on this site so they are red thumbing that comment but ye u r right many people around the world regard drico as 1 of the best ever. O connel is good but not as good as o driscoll , many second rowes can do what o Connell does (without the passion) but drico was very special player

There are definitely not more Munster fans on this site. Leinster articles get more views, comments and there are simply more people in Leinster. Is it possible that supporters of Leinster, Munster, Ulster and Connacht recognise the best Irish rugby player of all time as being Paul O’Connell? O’Driscoll was great, no question, but there’s a reason that while both Paul and Brian were playing for the same teams, Paul was the captain.

And for the love of god, learn to spell.

That’s the dub in him

No foreign fans or players rate BOD more than an excellent player. POC is revered by all fans and more importantly has been name checked by legends like Matfield and McCaw as the best player they ever faced. Draw your own conclusions. We’re blessed to have had them both.

In the debate of BOD V POC, I think we’ll be very lucky to see a more talented, more skillful back than we had in BOD, and he will be forever remembered for that element of his game. And I think there can be plenty of debate as to whether POC was (still is) Ireland’s greatest ever 2nd row or forward player.

However, it’s when it comes to Leadership that I firmly believe there is no debate, there is no arguement – O’Connell was, and still is, one of Ireland’s greatest ever leaders in Rugby. His leadership of Ireland stands on its own, but I frequently heard stories from players of the 2013 Lions who said they had never experienced powerful, passionate leadership like that of O’Connell during that tour, even after he got injured, they said it was the definition of awe-inspiring.

As legendary as BOD was as a player (and he was incredible), he was no Leader of Men in the League of O’Connell in my opinion.

@eoghan please explain to me how you came to the assumption that when Paul and Brian were in the same team that O’Connell was captain? O’Driscoll captained Ireland 83 times in his career and O’Connell was in the team almost the entirety of his tenure.

Their is either a lot of people who only started watching rugby within the past 5 years and forget about the decade that O’Driscoll led Ireland. Also people saying that foreign fans regard O’Connell as the greatest Irish player ever as clearly misinformed as the vast majority regard O’Driscoll as the greatest northern hemisphere player of all time.

O’Connell is undeniably a leader of men and one of Ireland all time greats but perhaps you should watch the many games where O’Driscoll led by example and got Ireland over the line through sheer courage and came up with an important try.

O’Driscoll is the most capped rugby player of all time, 6 nations all time top try scorer, second top try scorer in the European cup and was named the World Rugby magazines player of the decade.

D4 boys are easily rattled.

I’m not from D4 actually, but congrats on such a well made argument.

Agreed about BOD as best Irish player ever – little doubt in my mind. However, POC has to be near the top of the list.
Contenders:
Jack Kyle, WJ McBride, CMH Gibson, Keith Wood, POC, BOD.

POC continues to be one of the great captains in modern rugby – at 35 he remains critical to our RWC chances.
However, BOD was a superb captain for many years. For all the midfield explosiveness and flair, look at his 1m tries that won the Grand Slam. Sheer willpower, guts and leadership.
Between the two of them, they are amongst the finest captains in modern rugby history.
This either/or binary obsession is as ugly as it is baffling.

Did you ever hear that forwards win games the backs decide by how much. The work rate of these guys in the engine room is unbelievable. Without flair and flash….but in the pack is where real men stand tall. Fancy dan stuff doesn’t count. That’s why Paul o’connell has been and still is Ireland’s greatest ever rugby player. More geart and passion that any other player I’ve ever seen. Unlike a narcissistic centre who’s getting mentioned here and isn’t even Ireland’s best ever back. I think that accolade belongs to mike Gibson.

Philip Ryan. Definitely gets onto my All Time top 15 Greatest Trolls Team. His Leadership skills and ability piss all over every rugby article mean I would probably have him Captain that team.
Absolute Legend.

Love this Donald!

Top 3 are most definitely Philip, Rochelle, and RobsonKeane although it is possible they are alter egos of the same person!

Pretty sure POC has played in the same Ireland team when BOD was captain!

A salient point, Cian. Southern hemisphere teams have a very low opinion of BOD. Ultimately I think he was the first in a long line of world class players we’ve had the pleasure of representing Irish rugby and we went a bit mad in overrating him. Even the likes of Sexton and Murray are top of their position in world rugby which BOD never was (Conrad Smith) and are already better appreciated in the SH than Brian ever was.
POC will obviously be remembered as the greatest player of this generation for talent and perhaps our greatest ever captain but there’s a certain romance to BOD for being the first that will make him special to some.

Cian,

No foreign fans or players rate BOD? Where did you come up with this tripe?

Did you see the tributes coming in from the all over the world when he retired? not least from the All Blacks and the a French of all people.

No disrespect to Paulie but in terms of honours and individual acolades there is no greater Irish player in the professional era.