IT’S JUST AS well that Jimmy O’Brien is a laid-back character. His initial foray into Test rugby has included lots of last-minute drama.
Go back to November and the Kildare man was set to play for Ireland A against the All Blacks XV on a Friday night.
Instead, an injury for Robbie Henshaw meant O’Brien was promoted into the senior matchday 23 against South Africa the following day. Just 26 minutes into that Irish win, Stuart McCloskey was forced off injured and O’Brien came on for his debut at outside centre.
O’Brien then moved to fullback as he started against Fiji the following week before he started on the left wing versus Australia to round out an impressive autumn campaign with Ireland.
The shenanigans continued last weekend in Rome when Garry Ringrose had to withdraw the day before the match against Italy. 26-year-old O’Brien was promoted to the bench and got on for his first Six Nations cap in the closing minutes at outside centre.
“It’s something you grew up watching, it was cool to play,” says the versatile Leinster back of making his Six Nations debut.
“I found out late in the day, similar to my first cap as well. Thankfully, my parents had booked the trip anyway and were going over regardless of whether I got in the squad. Any excuse!
“I saw them straight after the game, it was class. When I got called in late I didn’t know if my family could be there and that would have been disappointing after, so it was cool.”
It has been a whirlwind start to international rugby for O’Brien but he has surely convinced Ireland boss Andy Farrell that he needs him in his World Cup squad. Even with increased squads of 33 players this time around, versatility will be handy.
O’Brien is about as versatile as they come and he sees it as a big positive.
“I haven’t gone to numbers nine or 10 yet, only for Leinster,” says former Naas RFC player O’Brien with a laugh.
“Give it time! Centres, each wing, fullback, yeah.
“Growing up, when I was playing a couple of positions, people would ask if it was going to work against you or whatever but I think now it works for me.
“I’m the kind of guy who can play multiple positions and I need to lean into that, that’s my strength. I just make sure I know every position, so the other day if I got put in on the wing, 13 or fullback, I’d know it.”
His only touch of the ball in his cameo against Italy was to put Bundee Aki into a half-gap. O’Brien did it intuitively. That’s where his history as an out-half or centre in his Newbridge College school days comes in handy.
“That’s just from playing 10,” he says. “I didn’t really think about it, but that’s what you do when you get the ball, it just comes from training really.”
O’Brien’s skillset suits how Ireland are attacking. Farrell wants his backs to be flexible during games, swapping roles and duties within the slick Irish attack shape.
“Some lads interchange positions on the field anyway, so that suits me down to the ground really,” explains O’Brien.
“If you’re behind forwards in a shape, if you’ve to go in first receiver, the style we play, I’m not just on the left wing and don’t go off it.
“It’s kind of organised, you know times when you’ll come off your wing through training, stuff like that when you know they’re going to hit up here, you see the defence coming and so you flow on to the right-hand side, maybe, and push lads out.
“It comes from training, it’s a feel that comes when you’ve trained with lads a lot.”
The biggest challenge in covering a lot of positions is in defence.
“At 13, there’s a lot of different reads: front-door, back-door, you have to know their set-plays because they’re usually trying to expose 13 off set-plays. It’s the hardest place to defend,” says O’Brien.
“On the wing, if you’re playing high, coming up, then that’s slightly different positioning and then fullback and wing it’s about where all their kicking threats are: who is left-footed, right-footed, where they exit, when to close.
“When you go to 13, I’m not thinking about who is left-footed, right-footed or how they clear, more so how they’re going to attack.”
While O’Brien is still relatively new to the Ireland set-up, he’s not a rookie when it comes to professional rugby.
He already has 66 caps for Leinster and had a recent reminder that he’s not a kid anymore from fellow ex-Newbridge College man Sam Prendergast, who is now in the Leinster academy and impressing for the Ireland U20s.
“I remember asking him this and felt really old when he came training, saying, ‘Do you remember when I was in sixth year and you were in first year?’ and he said, ‘Nah, I was in sixth class!’
“I just thought, ‘Jesus, I’m so much older than you’ and felt really bad.”
O’Brien is feeling comfortable and confident in this Ireland squad. Now he wants to feature as Farrell’s men look to close out a Grand Slam.
“Three from three is unbelievable and exactly where we wanted to be,” says O’Brien.
“Win the two games and it’s a Grand Slam. That’s what you dream of when you’re a kid, when you’re playing.
“The drive from everyone in the squad to get into that 15 or 23 is massive, the training is a higher level. It’s a great environment to be in.”
