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The Junior Wallaby with shades of 'BOD' who was snapped up after four tries in five games
By Finn Morton
Former Ireland and British & Irish Lions centre Brian O’Driscoll is one of the greatest rugby union players of all time. The man known globally as ‘BOD’ played a then-record 141 Test matches, including more than 80 as captain of the Irish.
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For many, including even this writer, O’Driscoll was considered the man. Whether it was with Leinster, Ireland or in the famous red strip of the touring Lions, O’Driscoll often showed stunning skills to pull off the incredible while others watched on in awe.
Australian Henry O’Donnell also looked up to the legendary centre. The self-identified “absolute footy tragic” would watch game after game of rugby, but especially enjoyed watching the memorising work of master O’Driscoll from the other side of the world.
It’s no wonder that as a young man on the rise through Australia’s rugby ranks that O’Donnell looked up to the World Rugby Hall of Famer as an inspiration. O’Donnell, just like O’Driscoll, wanted to be O’good enough to play professional rugby.
“Like myself, he’s got no absolutely crazy physical attribute. He’s not 115 kilos heavy or 195 centimetres tall,” O’Donnell told RugbyPass in February before the Super Rugby Pacific season.
“It’s just a good footy brain, smart, fast and just a good work ethic.
“I’m not the biggest body but I love throwing myself into the contact, but I think just shaping myself as an all-round player that can attack from all different angles and (is a) really high IQ defensive player.
“That’s probably watching other people and trying to shape my game off people who are good at those attributes.”
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O’Donnell is a Sydney boy and had dreamed of one day pulling on the Sky Blue jersey of the NSW Waratahs. The backline utility impressed in Riverview’s First XV during his high school days and was also part of the Waratahs’ junior pathways.
Everything seemed to be moving in the right direction for the youngster, but O’Donnell’s opportunity at Super Rugby Pacific level wouldn’t come with the New South Welshman. Instead, the Aussie made the move from one coast to another.
With Wallabies Izaia Perese and Lalakai Foketi holding down the fort in the Waratahs’ midfield, the Sydneysider considered multiple factors before putting pen to paper with the Western Force. For a young man, “It was actually super hard.”
“It was very hard but moving over here, (I’ve) been welcomed by the boys pretty well. I knew a few boys over here that I’ve played in 20s with or who are from Sydney as well.
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“But the thing is best about Perth is all of the boys are actually from the east coast, we all live together over here. We all live pretty much in the same suburb.
“It’s a bit like a little family over here because we don’t have our friends outside of footy, we only kind of really have each other.
“There was a big dream for me to play for the Tahs. Growing up, that was obviously the team I rooted for and I really wanted to play for them,” he added.
“I was just looking at obviously the opportunity for me, the coaching staff, it’s also a good chance to live out of home, lots of life experience. That was probably the big decision in terms of opportunity.
It’s advantage @wallabies early on! 🇦🇺
Henry O’Donnell starts the scoring in their clash with @WelshRugbyUnion #WorldRugbyU20s pic.twitter.com/oTNGr2P551
— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) July 14, 2023
“I feel like I’m ready to get into the Super environment. I thought the Force was probably the club heading in the right direction and would have the most opportunity for me to reach my goals.
“As every young kid has to do, they have to bide their time and I’m completely happy to do that.
“But I thought just the opportunities over at Force for me getting game time, develop my career, develop my skills… I thought that was the right move for me at the time.”
O’Donnell was unveiled as one of the Western Force’s newest signings on the morning of September 5. It was big news for the club.
The hard-running centre had just come off an impressive U20s campaign with the best young players in the country, who had come up against their peers from around the world.
Coach Nathan Grey picked O’Donnell in the Australia U20 squad for the World Rugby U20 Championship in South Africa. While the Junior Wallabies didn’t win that tournament, there were plenty of positives for the future of Aussie rugby.
Now-NSW Waratahs halfback and SVNS Series debutant Teddy Wilson captained the team, the Reds’ playmaking duo of Tom Lynagh and Harry McLaughlin-Philips also got a run, and 2024 captain Toby MacPherson also made an impact.
Then there are the likes of former SVNS star Darby Lancaster, the Melbourne Rebels’ Mason Gordon, Reds prop Massimo De Lutiis, midfielder Ronan Leahy and so many others. This was a squad oozing with both talent and potential.
When the squad was initially unveiled on June 7, O’Donnell was listed under the ‘Waratahs’ playing group. The utility would go on to star over in South Africa by scoring four tries in five appearances in Aussie gold, which included a double against Wales.
It was an experience that O’Donnell considered “an essential part (of getting) Super ready.” The Western Force’s signing told this website towards the end of pre-season that he’d learnt “heaps of stuff” from that experience with the U20 national team.
“I thought the 20s campaign was absolutely unreal. Honestly, it was probably the best month of footy I’ve… just enjoyed being around the boys.
“I’ve played heaps of footy with Teddy (Wilson), played footy since I was 12 years old with Jack Bowen as well. Ned Slack-Smith, I played with all those boys.
“I absolutely enjoyed my time. I loved the coaching staff in (Nathan) Greysie and Shannon Fraser, and I thought we played a really great brand of footy that I thought we were actually all really proud of and really enjoyed playing.
“I thought we only got better as the tournament went on. I don’t think coming fifth in the tournament did us any justice.
“Tournament footy is hard – losing to Ireland in that one game. It was a hard one to cop on the chin because I thought we were a lot better than fifth but I learned so much from that time and I also had so much fun.
“I thought it was such a great experience for all the boys.”
After making the more than four-hour plane trip west, O’Donnell started with training with the Force in November. This was a group that had also brought the likes of Ben Donaldson and Nic White into the mix ahead of the 2024 season.
Three months after speaking with RugbyPass, O’Donnell has found a home in the Force’s matchday side. The Junior Wallaby has played five matches already off the pine since debuting against the Blues and Auckland, and he’s set to take the field again on Saturday.
After dreaming of one day wearing the Sky Blue jersey, O’Donnell will take on the Waratahs for the first time in his career at Perth’s HBF Park. O’Donnell will wear the No. 23 jumper as the Force looks to take a big step towards a once-unlikely finals spot.
