A 30-year-old Brian O'Driscoll and a 22-year-old Jamie Roberts forged an almost immediate chemistry on the 2009 Lions Tour of South Africa.
With Roberts at 12 and O'Driscoll at 13, they played in the first and second tests of what was a classic tour.
Roberts' size and his ability to use it cleverly was the perfect foil for the guile of BOD, with both men able to create space for the one another.
While they didn't play any test matches with each other on the 2013 Lions Tour, they rekindled the partnership in a masterclass demonstration on centre play on BT Sport recently.
Brian O'Driscoll And Jamie Roberts Rekindle Lions Partnership
.@Jamiehuwroberts and @BrianODriscoll walk through a demo of the finer details of manipulating an opposition defence and combining as a centre-partnership 🔍
You can still see the chemistry 🤝 pic.twitter.com/Xmw7D9z2la— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) February 19, 2023
READ HERE: Brian O'Driscoll Reveals 'Insane' Training Sessions From His Blackrock College Days
The brilliance of Jonathan Davies on the 2013 Tour saw O'Driscoll controversially dropped for the last test, but Roberts spoke of the classy reaction from BOD after Warren Gatland's decision.
"There were a lot of tight calls, none more so than Brian's and I think it goes to show the kind of guy he is that he was the first to come up to me after training and say 'look do you want to do any extras?'.
"A thousand of others have said it before me and thousand others will say it again but he is one of the greatest players to play the game.
"Surprise is not the right word. Warren has made a lot of big calls and ultimately you respect the coach's decision whoever is picked and he has picked a team that he feels can win on Saturday.
"He is an incredible player and an incredible asset to the squad. He has played some wonderful rugby on this tour but ultimately the coach makes the decision and picks the players he thinks can deliver and a lot of very good players missed out on selection for Saturday."
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