Nick Cain: Yes, BOD was great, but not the greatest

That Brian O’Driscoll is one of the great players is undisputed. However, justice was done when Mike Brown won the 2014 RBS 6 Nations Player of the Championship award, which is decided by public vote, receiving over 23,000 votes – almost 4,000 more than the Irish centre.
Where O’Driscoll had a respectable tournament, and showed a few maestro touches, Brown had an exceptional one.
The England full-back not only topped the charts for tries, metres made, and defenders beaten, he was also an inspirational force in transforming England’s attack.
It would have been a travesty if a sentimental vote in favour of a retiring great had robbed him of the award, and you sense that O’Driscoll is realist enough not to have wanted what would have been a hollow accolade.
Now that an army of eulogists have expended every superlative in praise of O’Driscoll – some even crowning him as the greatest player of this or any era – there is need for some objectivity.
I have been fortunate enough to cover many of O’Driscoll’s landmark matches, including the superb hat-trick of tries he scored at the Stade de France in his first Five Nations campaign in 2000.
Anyone who saw how he cut through defences with his hacksaw acceleration and uncanny balance, both then and for the 2001 Lions against the Wallabies, was left in no doubt about his gifts. His solo try in the first Test in Brisbane rivalled Jason Robinson’s for individual brilliance.
Another of O’Driscoll’s great attributes has been his bravery. In an era of physical giants O’Driscoll was relatively small at 5ft 10ins and barely over 14 and a half stone – but he had the heart of a titan.
It is why he was made captain of the 2005 Lions to New Zealand, and also why Tana Umaga and Keven Mealamu put him out of the tour in the early minutes of the opening Test with an inexcusable – and unpunished – off-the-ball spear tackle.
It is also why in the epic second Test of the 2009 Lions tour of South Africa, in Pretoria, he made a kamikaze man-and-ball tackle on Danie Rossouw which resulted in him saving a try by not only knocking himself senseless, but doing the same to the 6ft 6ins, 19 stone Springbok back rower.
Unfortunately, he was a victim of concussion on multiple occasions, but, for me, he and Jonny Wilkinson stand out as lionhearts because, although they had the bodies of ordinary mortals, they were indomitable.
Yet, even though O’Driscoll reinvented himself as a ‘midfield flanker’ after his blistering acceleration had waned, I would not say he is the greatest player I have seen, or the greatest centre.
O’Driscoll has been remarkably consistent, but there were slumps, notably in 2007 culminating in Ireland coming within an ace of losing to Georgia in the World Cup. He was also part of a ‘golden generation’ which, apart from the 2009 Grand Slam, failed to hit the heights.
While O’Driscoll has enjoyed the greatest longevity of any centre in the pro era to reach a world record number of caps, he has serious competition.
I saw the South African outside-centre Danie Gerber play on a handful of occasions between the early 1980s and early 1990s and consider him unrivalled for sheer dynamism, agility and speed, as well as a complete array of footballing skills. At 6ft 2ins and 141/2 stone Gerber had the lot – apart from one thing. Due to Apartheid he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The great French centre, Philippe Sella hit like a sledgehammer in the tackle, took sublime running lines, and had great hands. Sella won 111 caps (1982-1995) for French sides which won or shared five Five Nations titles, including a Grand Slam in 1987, when he also played in the first World Cup final.
When it comes to panache and pace, and the uncanny ability to be there at the decisive moment on the biggest occasions and deliver, Jeremy Guscott is out on his own. The England Grand Slams of 1991, 1992 and 1995, as well as the victorious Lions tours of 1989 and 1997 are testament to his talent.
Where short, stocky centres are concerned,   the double Australian World Cup winner Tim Horan, has impeccable claims to any midfield crown, as does the Welsh pocket powerhouse, Scott Gibbs. And, so far, we have not even touched on the merits of All Blacks like Frank Bunce, Umaga and Conrad Smith, or Springboks like Jean De Villiers or Jaque Fourie.
Nor have we considered the claims of another legendary Irish and Lions centre, Mike Gibson, whose international career spanned 16 years.
Brian O’Driscoll is a great player who richly deserved his title send-off in Paris, but, for the love of BoD, let’s keep a sense of perspective.