Brian O’Driscoll’s hilarious dig after Tana Umaga win grappling award
It is nice that former British & Irish Lions captain Brian O’Driscoll can look back on his infamous shoulder dislocating incident with Tana Umaga and laugh, and that is exactly what he did this week.
After the former All Blacks captain won a silver medal at the World Master Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championships recently, O’Driscoll saw that as the perfect opportunity to have a little dig. He wrote on Twitter: “Proud to have played some small part in his preparation for this silver medal! JOOOOOKE!!! Well done Tana Umaga that’s a great achievement.”
Proud to have played some small part in his preparation for this silver medal! JOOOOOKE!!! Well done @tanaumaga that’s a great achievement. 👏👏👏 https://t.co/DhpJ7DUrrH
— Brian O’Driscoll (@BrianODriscoll) September 15, 2022
Umaga saw the funny side in it, responding: “I’ve lost those skills!!#guardpullerrighthere Can’t takedown no more because I’m scared to hurt myself!!Thanks for the message brother Brian O’Driscoll.
😂😂😂. I’ve lost those skills!!😜#guardpullerrighthere
Can’t takedown no more because I’m scared to hurt myself!!👨🏾🦳🤕😂Thanks for the message brother @BrianODriscoll https://t.co/HAsTZ1vjkc
— Tana Umaga Co-Founder of Viktual+ (@tanaumaga) September 16, 2022
This was actually one of the most famous incidents in the professional era, and there was a lot of bad blood for a long time. O’Driscoll launched at Umaga immediately after that match between the Lions and the All Blacks in 2005, saying: “I have no doubt whatsoever that it was some sort of spear tackle that ended it.
“My real disappointment was that he (Umaga) didn’t come up as I was being stretchered off which I thought would just be a common courtesy between captains, whether he had been involved or not.
“I don’t know whether that shows any element of guilt or not. At the time and post-match when I thought about it, that certainly disappointed me.”
Despite their history, the pair are on good terms now though, which O’Driscoll reiterated on Twitter, writing: “For those that can’t see the funny side of it. #rugbyfwends” alongside a picture of him and Umaga.
For those that can’t see the funny side of it. #rugbyfwends pic.twitter.com/D1VoUVgugL
— Brian O’Driscoll (@BrianODriscoll) September 15, 2022
