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Tough test

The great Irish rugby captains quiz

Where’s our, flippin’ pride? It’s in the track records of these fine upstanding gentlemen.

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IN A PREVIOUS life (i.e: earlier this year) captaincy of the Irish rugby team was a hot button topic. Would Pete get the nod? Was it too soon for James Ryan? Or was it time to formalise Johnny Sexton’s position as creative director?

No, yes and yes were Andy Farrell’s answers, but Covid-19 came along and both coach and captain were denied a clean run through a first campaign at the helm. But we can still look back through the archive* of the great and the few, the skippers who have led Ireland on the international stage.

 

See how many you can nail (taking into account that appearances as captain, for these purposes, only count from the start).

Brian O'Driscoll, by a long way, has the most appearances as captain of the Ireland rugby team. But who is second?
Willie John McBride
Rory Best

Keith Wood
Paul O'Connell
Which of these Ireland captains has not led the Lions Test side?
Peter O'Mahony
Tom Kiernan

Ciaran Fitzgerald
Keith Wood
Brian O'Driscoll led Ireland a whopping 83 times. Against what team did he score the last of his 46 tries?
Wales
England

France
Italy
Of these hardy four, who led Ireland as captain on the most occasions?
Simon Best
Reggie Corrigan

Anthony Foley
Simon Easterby
And who had the fewest outings as skipper from this selection?
Terry Kingston
David Humphreys

Mick Galwey
Willie Anderson
No shortage of leaders in the 80s. Which of these men led Ireland most often?
Donal Lenihan
Fergus Slattery

Ciaran Fitzgerald
Philip Matthews
Ronan O'Gara scored over a thousand points in 128 Tests, but how many times did he captain Ireland?
Never
Once

Twice
Ten
A big honour in any era, which of these men has captained Ireland most?
Sean O'Brien
Jack Kyle

Rhys Ruddock
Mike Gibson
The youngest ever Ireland captain was a strapping 20-year-old called John Ross in 1896. Who is the youngest man to lead Ireland in the professional era?
Peter O'Mahony
Paul O'Connell

Brian O'Driscoll
Niall Hogan
Lastly, who won more starts as captain of these four?
Jamie Heaslip
Michael Bradley

Philip Matthews
Willie John McBride
Answer all the questions to see your result!
You scored out of !
A student of the greats
Like Tony Soprano, you've been studying all the great leaders that came before like Napoleon, Patton, Wood and Crawford.
Share your result:
You scored out of !
Just shy of the Lions tour
You led the way through this international (quiz) with assured confidence and refused to be rattled by the odd mistake.
Share your result:
You scored out of !
A win is a win.
But some untimely slips mean questions will be asked of your leadership.
Share your result:
You scored out of !
Where's your effin pride?
You didn't manage the ref, you didn't manage the media and the pressure of leading the side seemed to put you right off your game. Time for fresh blood.
Share your result:

*The archive is ESPN’s historical stats and any complaints should be directed their way.  

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