Ireland’s victory at the weekend has got them off to an excellent start in this year’s 6 Nations rugby tournament.

The team played a strong first half in their match against Wales to score a strong victory of 30-22. This has got them team energised as they move forward in the competition. Saturday 2nd February was a good day all round, and was also the return of Brian O’Driscoll to the tournament.

Brian O’Driscoll (photo by Paul Walsh, via Flickr Creative Commons)

O’Driscoll was forced to miss last year’s 6 Nations due to injury, which continued to effect him into the autumn tournaments of 2012. This absence meant that he wasn’t in his usual position as team captain on Saturday, which was handed to Jamie Heaslip. But this didn’t mean there was an internal battle for leadership. On the contrary. O’Driscoll displayed some of that ‘no quit’ attitude of The Wild Geese and brought his team values back to the field:

‘The captaincy doesn’t make any difference – I still see myself as a leader in the team and helping Jamie out where I can

‘You don’t play any different if you’re captain. You always try to lead by the way you play’

And O’Driscoll certainly did this. Like The Wild Geese, he is testament to the refusal to quit, transcending injury and circumstance. He helped secure a victory in the second half, scoring his 26th 6 Nations try and was awarded Man of the Match.