Brian O’Driscoll and Ronan O’Gara were both nearing their 27th birthdays when they explored their options in France. Though they were just two years older than Jack Crowley is now, their circumstances were materially different. O’Gara and O’Driscoll were established Test players who had both played for the Lions by then. Entering the final year of their IRFU contracts, they were ripe for the market.
Neither of them really wanted to leave Ireland, but they both felt it would be foolish to submit to that feeling without testing it. In O’Driscoll’s case, he was recovering from shoulder surgery and Leinster were still a basket case. Michael Cheika had just been appointed as their fourth coach in four years.
“I tell…