Unfortunately it seems as if this Six Nations might be BOD’s last, Munster fans might not want to hear who’s reffing on Saturday and the man with the best name in rugby also has the best nickname in rugby.
Last Six Nations for BOD?
Considering that former team-mate Brad Thorn turns 38 next week and is still going strong, 34-year old Brian O’Driscoll must be sick of the fact that he can’t sit down for an interview these days without being asked when he’s going to hang up his boots.
Unfortunately for Irish rugby fans, the theory that he will call it a day after the Lions Tour in the summer has been gathering weight in recent months, thanks in no small part to a few comments made by the man himself.
The latest of these statements came in an interview with BBC Sport recently, where BOD gave a hint that the upcoming Six Nations will be his last.
“There’s a strong possibility it could be my last,” the great man said.
“There’s every chance it’s my last Six Nations but I haven’t really allowed myself to start thinking about finishing.
“If you start thinking about it too early, you’re one foot into retirement already. I’m contracted [with the Irish Rugby Football Union] until the summer and I’ll see how my body feels.”
We’ve all seen how much O’Driscoll has put his body through during his career and no doubt his bones are crying out for an extended rest having been given such a clattering over the years, but we don’t think we’re alone in hoping that O’Driscoll doesn’t follow through on those retirement suggestions; we’re not ready for that yet!
‘36’ gets the nod for England after all
Yesterday we told you that Leicester Tigers centre and owner of possibly the greatest name in rugby – Billy Twelvetrees – was in line to start for England against Scotland and so it came to pass when Stuart Lancaster announced his team this morning.
What we weren’t aware of until today is that as well as having the best name in rugby, he also has the best nickname. Twelvetrees’ Leicester team-mates call him ‘36’ after he was given the nickname by Geordan Murphy and if you don’t understand the meaning instantly, think about it for a few seconds while browsing through the England and Scotland teams for Saturday below.
If that on its own wasn’t good enough, his Dad is also a tree surgeon by trade. You couldn’t make this sh*t up.
England: Alex Goode; Chris Ashton, Brad Barritt, Billy Twelvetrees, Mike Brown; Owen Farrell, Ben Youngs; Joe Marler, Tom Youngs, Dan Cole; Joe Launchbury, Geoff Parling; Tom Wood, Chris Robshaw (Captain), Ben Morgan.
Scotland: Stuart Hogg; Sean Maitland, Sean Lamont, Matt Scott, Tim Visser; Ruaridh Jackson, Greig Laidlaw; Ryan Grant, Dougie Hall, Euan Murray; Richie Gray, Jim Hamilton; Alasdair Strokosch, Kelly Brown, Johnnie Beattie.
You heard who’s reffing the match on Saturday, right?
Ireland fans with a Munster allegiance will hardly be thrilled to know that Romain Poite will be the man in the middle in the Millennium Stadium on Saturday.
The Frenchman isn’t exactly universally popular, but supporters of the southern province have a particular grudge against him having been at the wrong end of a few controversial decisions over the years… in their eyes at least.
Hopefully Poite will avoid any controversy to the extent that his name is barely mentioned come Saturday afternoon, but for anyone still tense about what might go wrong, this footage of him being tackled twice during a Heineken Cup game should cheer you up a bit…
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