Ahead of Sunday’s big match Catriona Blake gives two 13s at different stages of their careers her top trumps treatment…
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| Full name | Brian O’Driscoll | Manu Tuilagi | |
| Anagram | A Colorblind Sir | A Gaunt Ilium | |
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| For those not in the know, the illium is the largest bone of the pelvis, so to consider Tuilagi who is an utter beast of a man, to be gaunt is quite frankly ludicrous. However, to consider O’Driscoll as one of us mere humans with an ocular defect is beyond the realm of possibility as we all know BOD is rapidly gaining superhero status. | ||
| Date of birth | January 21, 1979 (age 34) | May 18, 1991 (age 21) | |
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| O’Driscoll can teach this young whippersnapper a couple of things, most vitally the importance of a comeback. Many had written BOD off after his Lions injury but his inner strength and determination is something anyone can learn from, not to mention the skills and self-awareness he has in abundance. | ||
| Place of birth | Dublin, Ireland | Fogapoa, Samoa | |
| Height | 1.75 m (5' 9") | 1.85 m (6' 1") | |
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| Points for Tuilagi who towers over O’Driscoll by a paltry 4 inches. | ||
| Weight | 95 kg (14 st 13 lb) | 110 kg (17 st 4 lb) | |
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| The Samoan gains the lead here with a whopping 35lbs; he’s clearly a boy that ate all his greens. Maybe Amy needs to take a leaf out of Mammy Tuilagi’s book and feed poor Brian up – for the greater good of Irish rugby of course! | ||
| Position | Centre | Centre | |
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| 6 Nations Appearances | 56 (56 starts) | 3 (3 starts) | |
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| O’Driscoll is a formidable player and has an inspiring 6 Nations track record that any player would wish to recreate. Tuilagi, as a young player is on the up and no doubt would wish to have his career match and better O’Driscoll’s. | ||
| 6 Nations Points Scored | 133 | 5 | |
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| Once again experience and maturity pays dividends, O’Driscoll ploughs ahead with an impressive 128 points over Tuilagi. | ||
| 6 Nations Discipline | Yellow Card: 0 Red Card: 0 | Yellow Card: 0 Red Card: 0 | |
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| Both centres have squeaky clean behaviour on the pitch; however cast your mind back to the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand and the Tuilagi brothers were fuelling media fire and column inches with their antics off the pitch. | ||
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| VERDICT | And O’Driscoll takes it with a 4-3 victory over the Samoan, but surely kudos should be given to Brian for his widely quoted “'Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.” | ||
Manager of The PrettyBoys; the world's most beautiful yet barely functioning fantasy rugby team, Catriona (@cathreonine) is an avid Munster supporter who has infiltrated her way into Dublin society so much so her accent is barely recognisable.
