He has been and is a great leader, he and Ireland deserved more than one piece of meaningful silverware.

Just love how the media swing the change in Irish rugby team captaincy e.g. “BOD Loses Captaincy”, “BOD Dropped as Captain” – What an utter load of bollix.

It might just happen that Brian has been through the wars in his recent career, and changing the captaincy takes the pressure, limelight and workload off him, helping him to recover quicker. It’s not like BOD ever needed the title of captain. He will always be a leader on and off the field regardless of a rubber band around his arm.

Maybe if the media took a more positive spin on the story e.g. Maybe Kidney thinks that the captaincy might bring the best out in Heaslip, and that he’s in far better, physical condition for the role.

I can’t imagine the change was made without consulting senior members in the squad like Rory, ROG and Paulie. Heaslip is a Grand Slam winning Lion with 3 H Cup medals under his pillow! He has an excellent record as Leinster skipper and is well respected in the squad. I’m the first to admit he was not my first choice but he can only be judged after the Championship!

Kidney has not done BOD’s chances of captaining the Lions any favours here, strange not to give it to him in his last ever season as an Irish rugby player I think he deserved that much at least.

seriously annoying how people are giving out about kidney not changing enough and now when he does this people are giving out about him changing things?????

Ah now come on heaslip is overrated like

Now is the right time to pass on the captaincy. BOD, who will still command a place in the team (at least for the moment), will be there to support him along with O’Connell and Best so he’ll have plenty of guidance. Not sure if I would have picked Heaslip though (and I’m a Leinster fan). If Ferris was fit I would go for him. He leads by example, like BOD, and I think players would follow him anywhere. But the decision has been made so good luck to the boys. We need a good weekend in the Heineken Cup with 3 teams in the quarters and a good Six Nations to lift the apparent gloom which has settled over Irish rugby.

Some people on here are hilarious……. Jamie does a fair bit of the unseen work….. He has come on in leaps and bounds etc etc…. When people said the same thing about DOC they were laughed at…

People say DK is slow to change…. He makes a big call and gets criticised. Some people are never happy.

While Heaslip wouldnt be my long term choice I think hes the right man for now. Ferris is injured and may not feature in a green jersey for a good while yet. Best probably has enough to be dealing with as a hooker…

I for one cannot wait for the first game WHOEVER gets picked….. Ireland ABU

Can’t agree with that decision, it doesn’t help BOD and it only puts more pressure on Heislip with BOD looking over his shoulder.

It would’ve been better to change coach rather then Captain. :-/

Dreadful decision and an insult to one of Ireland’s best sons. Kidney is contracted til the summer & this is realistically his last campaign with this crop. Heaslip’s form is uninspiring at the moment. Massive disappointment :(

Lightning Brian as me and the execs call him is a bloody Irish institution m8 and I cant wait to see him bring the heat.

It’s aload of balls! Heaslip Isint captain material. Just proves how badly I really really want Kidney to be sacked.

Heaslip wouldn’t be my first choice, I wanted Paul O’Connel as Captain a few seasons ago. B.o.D should have continued Jamie is a bit hot headed for the Captaincy

12 county province whinging as usual

kidney is righ

Coach can pick who he wants

Is their anything to be said for Paddy Wallace (aka Good friday agreement)

Currently the worst player in the Ireland squad, even behind the love child darcy.

Not too sure what I think of this! To be honest I amn’t a big Heaslip fan but that’s neither here nor there. Genuinely believe BOD is the best player Ireland has ever produced and if rumours are to be believed he should retain the captaincy for what probably is his last six nations. On the other hand, Brian Cody didn’t bring KK to where they are by being a thoughtful coach! Remember Rob Penny only did something similar with Paul O Connell. I really don’t know whether I like this decision or not…

Still too tepid. The ‘onerous’ job of captain? Some toughness wouldn’t go amiss. You’re out, you’re in, you’re professionals, get on with it. The lack of flow of young, form players from the provinces to the national set-up explains the disparity between provincial and national success. It takes years for these players to get a chance. Heaslip is the old guard now and still we’ve to be apologetically told BOD isn’t captain.

Very disappointed with coach’s decision to drop Brian O’Driscoll as captain. Is this the way to treat a player who has been the most consistent & inventive member (& captain for 10 years when not injured) of our international team in what will most likely be his final season as a player & with the (now dashed) prospect of being selected as captain of the Lions for a second time? (D. Kidney’s remark that not captaining Ireland in the 2013 6 Nations should not be an impediment to B.O’D being appointed as captain of the Lions sounds very like ‘spin’/PR speak.)

How many international matches has B.O’D effectively won by virtue of astute captaincy and personal skill, bravery and willingness to place his body on the line for Ireland? Jonny Sexton may take this treatment of O’ Driscoll as a signal that EUR800,000 p,a, with Racing Metro might be preferable to a lower-paid Irish contract when seeing how such an iconic, committed and still competitive player like B.O’D is being treated in the final yer of his career.

It is obvious that the official view is that O’D is being told that he should have retired from international rugby and, effectively from Leinster, on the high point of a 3rd. Heineken Cup win in 4 years in May 2012. Why, after today’s announcement, should he continue to risk injury by training to be competitive for province and country unless his contract obliges him to do so?

Joe Doherty