TODAY Brian O’Driscoll will be feted by all and sundry, the words from the Welsh opposition in the past few days alone enough to give Ireland’s star turn a massively big head if he were that way inclined. Which, it would appear, he is not: in BOD’s world, there is no room for a mega-ego.

Winning a 100th Irish cap is a special achievement, as even the normally shy John Hayes acknowledged after reaching that number in Twickenham – not that he got an easy ride on his milestone; and you’ve got to think Wales, more than any other team, would enjoy nothing more than gate-crashing BOD’s party in the penultimate rugby international at Croke Park.

In the real world of professional sport, awards count for nothing when placed alongside silverware but it still rankles that O’Driscoll was passed over for last year’s IRB Player of the Year in favour of Richie McCaw. In a year when BOD led Ireland to the Grand Slam, Leinster to the Heineken Cup and was an inspiration on the (losing) Lions tour to South Africa, it would have been fitting if he’d been running out onto the sacred turf officially recognised as the greatest.

So, on this day, let us pay tribute to those IRB judges who overlooked him. To Tana Umga, Will Greenwood, Gavin Hastings, Raphael Ibanez, Francois Pienaar, Augustin Pichot, Scott Quinnell, Paul Wallace and John Eales . . . . . we say, “Hats off! You certainly got that one right.”