IT WAS A photo that seemed appropriate for the situation. After waiting 18 months to make his international return, Sean O’Brien pulled up in the warm-up before the Six Nations opener against Italy and was forced to withdraw.
The camera cut to O’Brien on the bench and he looked very, very sad. The42′s Sean Farrell did a good job of summing up the emotions of Irish rugby fans at the time.
O’Brien has explained the circumstances surrounding the photo and while he says he was sad to have withdrawn, the timing of the footage made it seem far worse.
“I was actually looking at a monitor at that stage but when they cut to me it looked like I was about to cry,” O’Brien said.
“I was obviously disappointed because I felt I needed game time. It was just disappointing but you just have to get on with it.”
That wasn’t the only time that O’Brien has been getting attention online. Against France he backpedalled from a retreating scrum and blasted three Frenchmen out of the ruck, and people have been sharing the clip ever since.
O’Brien admits to having watched the clear-out but has dwelled far more on the rucks where the French were able to poach possession from Ireland.
“I’ve seen it all right, it was hard not to,” O’Brien said.
“It didn’t stand out and there were lots of rucks that I didn’t clean out well in that game. That’s probably the thing I was most annoyed about afterwards, I missed a few barrels. I was rusty and I missed a few tackles. Hopefully that will be better next week.”
While O’Brien is known for dishing out punishment like that clear-out he has also taken his fair share over his career. When asked what the biggest hit he ever took was, he doesn’t hesitate.
Although there is no footage of this tackle online, if it was tough enough to warrant a mention five years later we can probably take his word for it.
“Yer man, Jacques Burger, the lad at Saracens,” O’Brien said.
“It was off a five-man lineout and Johnny just said, “Crash this up.” I did but I ran into him.
“I remember thinking that every bit of air came out of me. I went up and went on but I wasn’t going too far. That’s probably the biggest hit I’ve ever had. We met in the middle and the two of us fell down on the ground.”
