Keith Wood and Brian O'Driscoll dropped into Off The Ball on Tuesday and set about the unenviable task of picking the best Ireland XV of the 21st century.

Keith Wood picked the pack while O'Driscoll selected the backs with one exception. The former Munster man got to say who wears the number ten shirt as Brian O'Driscoll didn't want to upset either of his friends, Ronan O'Gara and Johnny Sexton by having to omit one from the Ireland XV.

1. Cian Healy

Keith Wood said: "I looked at longevity playing, the number of standout performances and whether they were winners, so it's Cian Healy for number one.

"The standard of performances that Cian Healy has had over a huge number of performances and I thought his career was drifting away a few years ago and Jack McGrath was going to pass him out, but he fought back very well and prior to lockdown and in the twelve months before that put in some incredible performances."

Honourable mentions go to Jack McGrath and Peter Clohessy, while Brian O'Driscoll suggested Marcus Horan for consideration.

2. Rory Best

For the purposes of selection, Keith Wood is injured so went with the recently retired Ireland captain.

"Standout again is Rory Best, been around from 2005 to last year and I think he played too long but the quality of his performances.

"He has a lot of downs in his career but one of the reasons for that is he played for 14 years. He fought back time and time again and he was there for those huge big games that Ireland won and he delivered in those big games"

Honourable mention to Jerry Flannery who O'Driscoll described as "a real standard driver."

3. Tadhg Furlong

"If you are looking for pure tightheads it's Tadhg Furlong. When he was 15 or 16 the postman in Killaloo told me to watch out for him!

"I didn't see him for a few years but ever since he's come in he's excelled. He was brought in early for Leinster, he was brought in early for Ireland and his standard of scrummaging in big games has been truly phenomenal, that's what he's there for.

"But the subtlety in his hands, he's an absolute 21st-century ball-playing prop."

Honourable mention to John Hayes

4.James Ryan

"James Ryan has just been the Paul O'Connell 2.0," says Wood, "he has started nearly where Paul finished. He is raw but he puts in huge shifts, too much I think because I think we want to make sure we get another ten years out of him. I think he is a pure class act.

5. Paul O'Connell

"There are few people I enjoyed playing with as much and enjoyed watching them play. It didn't matter what colour jersey he had on, the raw emotion he had for Munster was the same for Ireland and the same for the Lions.

"His proficiency at lineout in particular, at the breakdown, in the tackle, ball carrying even if he wasn't the fastest. He was able to manage his own body very effectively.

"He consistently led from the front."

6. Sean O'Brien

"I love Sean O'Brien as a rugby player, he is a hard nut, incredibly powerful, very skilful, reads the game very well, has been plagued with injury at the end of his career, but they almost define him. He was phenomenal."

Honourable mention to Peter O'Mahony

7. David Wallace

"If you were to try and play a game where you were all over the field David Wallace was the man you wanted. His pace in the back row was without parallel."

Honourable mention to Stephen Ferris

8. Jamie Heaslip

"Jamie Heaslip is a really tough one for me because Anthony Foley was very good number eight very smart. I got frustrated with Jamie at the end of his career, but he was playing what was required by the coach.

"When you go back to 2009, '10, '11 & '12  I thought he played truly phenomenal rugby."

Honourable mention to Denis Leamy

9. Conor Murray

Brian O'Driscoll temporarily picks up the baton to select the backs for the Ireland XV and puts Conor Murray in at nine.

Honourable mentions for Peter Stringer and Eoin Reddan

10. Ronan O'Gara

Chosen by Keith Wood where Brian O'Driscoll abdicated all responsibility due to not wanting to lose friends. A detailed breakdown of why he went for ROG over Sexton is here.

11. Keith Earls

"Longevity is a big one here," says O'Driscoll, "and to stay the course for over a decade, in and out, on the wing is incredible because there is a lot of turnover there. There are a lot of fast players.

"It's quite difficult to stay on the wing in the back three. There are not many players that stay in a wing position for ten-eleven years."

Honourable mentions for Luke Fitzgerald and Jacob Stockdale.

12. Gordon D'Arcy

"Gordon D'Arcy for his ability to come back from serious injury. I had a telepathy with him and I only remember him missing one tackle in his entire career, but he was a very good tackler and incredibly brave in the jackal position, turned over so much ball.

"He was someone that it came a bit easy to at first then had to reinvent himself and had to wait a long time for that second cap. He then became the consummate professional."

Honourable mention for Robbie Henshaw.

13. Garry Ringrose

No BOD so it's Ringrose in the 13 shirt. "I have to go with Garry Ringrose and the excitement that he brings when he gets his hands on the ball," said O'Driscoll.

Big shout for the impact of Jared Payne as a big loss in the 2015 World Cup.

14. Tommy Bowe

"Tommy Bowe on his finishing capacity and defensive reads shades this one. He was quicker than people gave him credit for, he wasn't Denis Hickie fast, but he still had proper wheels. He was strong and had a good offloading game."

Honourable mention for Shane Horgan

15. Rob Kearney

"The guy that has been there since forever, missed the World Cup in '07, then made the position his own from 2008 to 2019. He had his detractors for his counter-attacking game.

"What he did, offering security at full-back in that time, I've never seen in my life. Also all of the big games Ireland won in that time, Rob was involved."

Honourable mentions for Girvan Dempsey and Geordan Murphy.

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