SEAN O’BRIEN, ONE of the best Irish forwards of his generation, has announced his intention to retire at the end of this season.
The Carlow-man came through the system at Leinster and was a key figure in their glory years, winning a man of the match award in the 2012 Heineken Cup final, also featuring prominently in Ireland’s Six Nations championship win in 2015.
Despite being hit by a series of injuries, O’Brien still managed to keep his career motoring on. He has been a success at London Irish since arriving there from Leinster in 2019, although injuries have continued to plague him. This morning he made the wise decision to call it quits.
“After much deliberation and consultation with my family, I have made the decision to retire from professional rugby at the end of this season,” O’Brien said in a statement.
They could. Tadhg Furlong has mentioned how O’Brien inspired him, again coming from rural stock in Ireland’s south-east. He, like O’Brien, had a winning mentality.
At the end of the 2021/22 season, I will be retiring from professional rugby.
— Sean O'Brien (@SeanOBrien1987) April 8, 2022
I've enjoyed every second of my career and can't thank my friends and family enough for their support.
Thank you,
Sean. pic.twitter.com/kEvhDUBXhn
“Look, right through my career, I wanted to be the best,” O’Brien said in that 2020 interview, “but I wanted the team to be the best, too. I wanted to be successful.
“In my mind, and I don’t really know where this came from, I always believed we could beat anyone. So why not have goals?
“I always had this mindset, that on the biggest occasions, the best players always show up. It was just a thing that was in the back of my head; I never said it out loud or anything.
“But I looked at other teams and players, looked at Roy Keane for instance, Paul O’Connell, Brian O’Driscoll. Those boys showed up on the big day. Every time there was a game in the balance, they’d take control of it.
“So I learned to revel in the big occasion. Even in 2012, following a relatively quiet season, I said to myself on the day of the Heineken Cup final, ‘this is where you shut everyone up’. The bigger days, I could always do it.”
He was as good as his word. On the 2017 Lions tour, he excelled, despite another injury-interrupted season. After that he was critical of their attack, saying they should have won the series. Four years on, he explained the context of those remarks.
“I know it caused controversy at the time but my opinion hasn’t changed, we could have won that series 3-0,” O’Brien told The42.
“When you look at the players we had – there was so much world-class talent in the squad, enough to have won all the Tests. I know all about the history, how the Lions have only won seven Tests or something like that in New Zealand over the years.
“But we had the players to do it.”
Tributes have already poured in, Leo Cullen, his former captain and coach at Leinster, being quick off the mark to praise him.
“He was a fearless competitor and he gave incredible confidence to those around him.
“Seán also made a huge impact at grassroots level where he has done so much great work in helping grow the game and inspiring so many young players to believe that anything was possible.
“On behalf of everyone at Leinster Rugby, we would like to wish Seán every success in the future as he takes on new challenges in the next stage of his life.”
O’Brien, is one of Leinster’s most decorated players, having come through the Leinster Academy system and having played 126 times for Leinster since his debut in September 2008 against the Cardiff Blues.
In his time at Leinster he was part of the PRO12 winning squads in 2008, 2013 and 2014 as well as the Guinness PRO14 wins in 2018 and 2019. He lifted the trophy on behalf of the entire squad in Celtic Park as he brought the curtain down on his Leinster career.
He has four Heineken Champions Cup medals, starting in the Heineken Cup finals of 2011 and 2012, and also a Challenge Cup medal in 2013.
Off the back of these impressive performances in the blue of Leinster, he was named European Player of the Year in 2011.
O’Brien made his Ireland debut in the RDS Arena in November 2009 against Fiji and won 56 Ireland caps.
