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O’Driscoll great in a way no Wallaby will be

14th March, 2014
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The Irish will run out in front of a packed house in Dublin to face the French. (AFP PHOTO/IAN KINGTON)
Expert
14th March, 2014
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The Sydney Morning Herald‘s chief rugby writer, Georgina Robinson, made several poignant points on Fox Rugby HQ on Thursday night.

In her second season, Robinson has well and truly overcome the criticism Fairfax copped for appointing a woman to replace Jim Webster and Greg Growden, who had ruled the rugby writing roost for close to 50 years.

I refer, in particular, to Robinson’s comment: “Brian O’Driscoll is not only a rugby legend in Ireland, he’s a national hero.”

That he is, even more so since he broke Wallaby George Gregan’s world record of 139 international caps. This weekend in Paris, O’Driscoll plays his 141st before hanging up his boots after a stellar career.

But Robinson’s “national hero” comment is the talking point.

Rugby in Ireland has no peer. There is no AFL, no rugby league and their football team doesn’t scare anyone.

Rugby rules the land of the green.

Let’s be realistic, rugby in Australia lags well behind the AFL, NRL and the A-League, so the chance of a Wallaby being dubbed a national hero is slim at best.

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If there’s one target the ARU should aim at it’s to lift the image of rugby out of the basement and point it towards the penthouse.

There is no bigger ask facing the ARU as the governing body than to look to Ewen McKenzie, Michael Cheika, Tony McGahan, Richard Graham, Steve Larkham and Michael Foley to produce Wallaby and Super Rugby teams that play entertaining and positive rugby to attract the fans.

The Waratahs have played some sublime rugby in their two games so far this season on the back of Israel Folau, yet they can’t crack 20,000 fans at their games.

That’s a light on rugby in Sydney.

At least the Reds regularly break through the 30,000 barrier at Suncorp.

On the positive side, the Wallabies won their last four internationals on the spring tour and they face France this year, who may well be the Six Nations champions this weekend if they beat O’Driscoll’s Ireland.

That three-Test series in June will be the Wallabies’ litmus test before the Bledisloe Cup and the Rugby Championship kick in.

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But no way will a Wallaby be a national hero like O’Driscoll unless it’s a result of a one-off victory and even then, the recognition will only last until the next game.

That’s a fact of life.

I can name 15 Wallabies since World War II who, given the same situation in Australia as O’Driscoll had in Ireland, who would qualify as bona fide national heroes over their careers.

In chronological order: Trevor Allan, Ken Catchpole, Rob Heming, David Campese, Mark Ella, Topo Rodriguez, Simon Poidevin, Nick Farr-Jones, Michael Lynagh, Tim Horan, John Eales, Matt Burke, George Smith and David Pocock.

Sadly, they will never get the chance.

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