SATURDAY WAS A special day for Tommy O’Brien in a few ways.
Having won his first three Ireland caps in Tbilisi, Lisbon, and Chicago, it was his first international game on home soil.
There was a well-deserved try late on to put the icing on the cake of a player-of-the-match performance against Japan in front of lots of family and friends.
Among O’Brien’s personal fan club were his grandparents, who came along to watch him in the flesh for the first time in many years.
O’Brien reckons that he might still have been in school the last time that his grandparents, Michael and Bernie, as well as his other granny, Phil, came to one of his games, so he joked about them being “proper glory supporters.”
“But they would have been glued to every game on TV,” added 27-year-old O’Brien on Saturday night, “so they’ve always been analysing it from home.”
O’Brien said he was looking for them and the rest of his family during the pre-match anthems, but thinks it was probably a good thing he couldn’t find them because it “might have sent me over the edge.”
He did his family proud with a typically all-action performance in which he appeared to be omnipresent.
In the first half, O’Brien made two crucial breakdown turnovers for Ireland, helping to quell some of the momentum Japan were building.
The weekend before against New Zealand in Chicago, O’Brien had some big defensive moments too, and it’s part of the game he enjoys.
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“I do,” said O’Brien. “I guess it’s something I’d probably look at as a point of difference for me.
O'Brien is an aggressive defender. Dan Sheridan / INPHO
Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO
“We talked about those wide breakdowns and going after them there. And sometimes we didn’t really get an ‘in’ last week.
“So when you make those tackles, just having an opportunity, sometimes when they’re on low numbers, it’s something I pride my game on. So, if I can get a few turnovers there, they can be good momentum changes.”
Thankfully, O’Brien got lots more touches of the ball for Ireland in the six-try win over Japan than was the case the week before in defeat to New Zealand.
He smiled as he said he was “semi-cursing” Jacob Stockdale when the Ulster man was in the sin bin on Saturday, which meant O’Brien had to do even more running than usual.
“We were talking at half time, saying, ‘OK, you’re going to be open wing on every attack and every defence.’
“So every time there’s a break in play, you’re on your bike and getting over there. But no, it gives you more opportunity, so happy in that sense.”
He was pleased that space opened up for him to score Ireland’s final try, although O’Brien’s hard work put him in position to strike.
He made a big effort to track across and make a tackle wide on the right just inside Ireland’s half, immediately bounced back to his feet and counter-rucked to help turn the ball over, then tracked upfield to take Sam Prendergast’s one-handed inside pass 40 metres from the Japanese line.
“Me and Sammy were on the same page,” said O’Brien. “I could see he was going across but he didn’t have the wheels to take it the whole way, so I dropped under him and he knew what I was going to do. It was nice to be on the same page like that.
“I gave a nice little fist pump into the crowd afterwards, which was cool, but I was blowing hard now getting back.
“Sammy gave me a nice 50-metre run-in, so I had to give it my all. I couldn’t get caught there!”
O'Brien has scored five tries in four caps so far. Billy Stickland / INPHO
Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO
O’Brien might have had another score in the second half had skipper Caelan Doris passed to him early after a clever lineout strike play, but the Ireland number eight opted to hold onto the ball rather than give his wing a one-on-one shot at finishing.
They go a long way back, having played together in Blackrock College, so O’Brien joked that he’s well able to give out to Doris when the need arises.
O’Brien made his Ireland debut last summer against Georgia, scoring two tries in that game before he bagged another brace in Portugal the following weekend. He looked confident in the clash with the All Blacks at the start of this autumn window and added to his strong start in the green jersey against the Japanese.
The Leinster man may well have featured for Ireland earlier than this but for his luckless run of injuries in recent seasons, so it all feels a little sweeter now.
“I guess it does definitely, and I’m also probably a lot more mature than I would have been maybe if I was 22 or 23,” said O’Brien.
“So that probably helps me in terms of not being as nervous coming into the games.
“I feel like I’ve worked very hard, I’ve had so many downs, so I just enjoy these kind of experiences on these days.”
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All-action wing O'Brien enjoys a special day in Dublin
SATURDAY WAS A special day for Tommy O’Brien in a few ways.
Having won his first three Ireland caps in Tbilisi, Lisbon, and Chicago, it was his first international game on home soil.
There was a well-deserved try late on to put the icing on the cake of a player-of-the-match performance against Japan in front of lots of family and friends.
Among O’Brien’s personal fan club were his grandparents, who came along to watch him in the flesh for the first time in many years.
O’Brien reckons that he might still have been in school the last time that his grandparents, Michael and Bernie, as well as his other granny, Phil, came to one of his games, so he joked about them being “proper glory supporters.”
“But they would have been glued to every game on TV,” added 27-year-old O’Brien on Saturday night, “so they’ve always been analysing it from home.”
O’Brien said he was looking for them and the rest of his family during the pre-match anthems, but thinks it was probably a good thing he couldn’t find them because it “might have sent me over the edge.”
He did his family proud with a typically all-action performance in which he appeared to be omnipresent.
In the first half, O’Brien made two crucial breakdown turnovers for Ireland, helping to quell some of the momentum Japan were building.
The weekend before against New Zealand in Chicago, O’Brien had some big defensive moments too, and it’s part of the game he enjoys.
“I do,” said O’Brien. “I guess it’s something I’d probably look at as a point of difference for me.
“We talked about those wide breakdowns and going after them there. And sometimes we didn’t really get an ‘in’ last week.
“So when you make those tackles, just having an opportunity, sometimes when they’re on low numbers, it’s something I pride my game on. So, if I can get a few turnovers there, they can be good momentum changes.”
Thankfully, O’Brien got lots more touches of the ball for Ireland in the six-try win over Japan than was the case the week before in defeat to New Zealand.
He smiled as he said he was “semi-cursing” Jacob Stockdale when the Ulster man was in the sin bin on Saturday, which meant O’Brien had to do even more running than usual.
“We were talking at half time, saying, ‘OK, you’re going to be open wing on every attack and every defence.’
“So every time there’s a break in play, you’re on your bike and getting over there. But no, it gives you more opportunity, so happy in that sense.”
He was pleased that space opened up for him to score Ireland’s final try, although O’Brien’s hard work put him in position to strike.
He made a big effort to track across and make a tackle wide on the right just inside Ireland’s half, immediately bounced back to his feet and counter-rucked to help turn the ball over, then tracked upfield to take Sam Prendergast’s one-handed inside pass 40 metres from the Japanese line.
“Me and Sammy were on the same page,” said O’Brien. “I could see he was going across but he didn’t have the wheels to take it the whole way, so I dropped under him and he knew what I was going to do. It was nice to be on the same page like that.
“I gave a nice little fist pump into the crowd afterwards, which was cool, but I was blowing hard now getting back.
“Sammy gave me a nice 50-metre run-in, so I had to give it my all. I couldn’t get caught there!”
O’Brien might have had another score in the second half had skipper Caelan Doris passed to him early after a clever lineout strike play, but the Ireland number eight opted to hold onto the ball rather than give his wing a one-on-one shot at finishing.
They go a long way back, having played together in Blackrock College, so O’Brien joked that he’s well able to give out to Doris when the need arises.
O’Brien made his Ireland debut last summer against Georgia, scoring two tries in that game before he bagged another brace in Portugal the following weekend. He looked confident in the clash with the All Blacks at the start of this autumn window and added to his strong start in the green jersey against the Japanese.
The Leinster man may well have featured for Ireland earlier than this but for his luckless run of injuries in recent seasons, so it all feels a little sweeter now.
“I guess it does definitely, and I’m also probably a lot more mature than I would have been maybe if I was 22 or 23,” said O’Brien.
“So that probably helps me in terms of not being as nervous coming into the games.
“I feel like I’ve worked very hard, I’ve had so many downs, so I just enjoy these kind of experiences on these days.”
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Australia Impact impression Ireland Japan Tommy O'Brien