THINGS DIDN’T QUITE work out the way Tommy O’Brien would have liked over the last few months. Most notably, he missed out on Ireland’s July Nations Championship Tests with a groin injury. That same problem impacted his golf game, just when the 28-year-old had hoped “this was going to be my summer” on the course.
Yet most importantly, the biggest day of all went perfectly, O’Brien marrying his partner Zoe Connolly in late August.
“I was hoping I’d have four weeks away from wedding planning (with the Ireland tour), but I was at home and available,” O’Brien laughs.
“We had a great day, it stayed dry for us, we were too hot in the tuxedos!”
After a short honeymoon in Greece, the focus is now very much back to the day job. The winger has been completing various fitness tests with an eye to returning to training next week. If all goes to plan, he’ll be available for Leinster’s URC opener away to the Lions on 26 September.
The Dubliner was excellent for Leinster last season. Bryan Keane / INPHO
Bryan Keane / INPHO / INPHO
And it’s going to feel like a different Leinster this season, with the province losing a considerable amount of experience over the summer as Luke McGrath, Ciarán Frawley, Rabah Slimani, Will Connors and James Lowe all moved on.
“There’s a lot of characters we’ve lost who are going to be missed, not only on the pitch but off it as well. But always the strength of Leinster has been the guys coming up and the ability to coach them to be the next wave of people that replace the older guys that leave.”
O’Brien has gone through that journey himself, overcoming long-standing injury battles to become a key man for not just Leinster, but also Ireland.
Last season was his most impressive yet, playing 22 games for province and country while providing key moments on some of the biggest days, scoring tries in Twickenham and the URC final alongside some memorable defensive plays.
The former Blackrock man continues to add layers to his game, and cites the influence of All Black pair Jordie Barrett and Rieko Ioane over recent seasons.
Barrett, he recalls, brought “an insane growth mindset” to the training pitch. Where others would opt to steer clear of Sam Prendergast’s spiral bomb kicks to avoid “looking bad”, Barrett would ask the out-half to “kick up as many as he can, he just wanted to challenge himself the whole time.”
Ioane was a different profile, a highly athletic winger able to pick his moments and use his physicality to beat defenders, sharing some of those traits with the now departed Lowe.
“I think Irish wingers are often very good at knowing the system, working hard, fitting in quite well into the system.
“But it’s probably why the likes of a Lowey has had so much success and is so popular with fans, because he can do that beating people one-on-one. It’s definitely a work-on for myself and a few others.”
There’s no all-star All Black around this time, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any fresh thinking in the building. Joey Carbery is back at his home province after spells with Munster and Bordeaux-Begles, and O’Brien is already getting new insights from the returning Leinster man.
“Fantastic, that kind of rugby IQ, being able to pick his brains personally and then in meetings and stuff we’ve been trying to find out a little bit about what goes on (in Bordeaux).
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Joey Carberry is back in Leinster blue. Grace Halton / INPHO
Grace Halton / INPHO / INPHO
“There’s a little bit of, it is quite as French as you imagine, they just do their own thing sometimes he was saying, but some of that stuff is great. You can probably say that maybe we’re sometimes a little bit too structured and that’s what’s got us great success, but there’s obviously an element there to that, the structure is to create opportunities and then you’ve got to be able to express yourself rather than relying on the structure to break teams down 100%.
“So there’s been some great learnings there and I think he’s going to be great for the likes of Caspar (Gabriel) and mentoring these young guys, and hopefully they’re going to want them to step up a little bit, but he’s obviously keen to play as much as he can and get himself back in the Irish mix as well.”
The influence of Jacques Nienaber has also shaped O’Brien’s thinking on the game over the last couple of seasons.
“He’s just so passionate about his defence and the way he teaches it, he tries to take as much decision-making out of it and just allows you to be so fully committed into it.
“Obviously it took a while. The first few months of him bringing the system, we were all over the place, but once people were fully bought in, I think you can see how effective it can be.
“I love it personally. Maybe the one area where you do have to make a bit more decision-making is out in the wings because you’re the one defending a little bit more space. But you have the licence to go and make reads; he’s never going to give out to you for making a read if you feel like you can make it.
“But it’s kind of down to yourself, if you make it, you’re the hero and if you mess up, you’re the zero. So I really enjoy the impact that I feel I can bring to the game.”
And as ever, there is excitement around some of the younger Leinster crop pushing through.
Out-half Caspar Gabriel (20) featured in last weekend’s pre-season meeting against Lyon, and O’Brien feels the talented Austrian has kicked on since winning his first cap last season.
Gabriel is not your typical Leinster player, having moved to Ireland at the age of 14 to play rugby at Terenure College. As a result, he was far from star-struck when he turned up for his first Leinster training session.
“He read all our names on the back of our jerseys and didn’t know that Harry and Ross (Byrne) are brothers until he spotted the names on the back,” O’Brien explains.
“I think Frawls was one of the only lads he knew because the red head stood out. But, yeah, it was kind of a breath of fresh air.
“I think it was great for him over the summer, Harry was away, Sam’s away, Frawls is gone, Joey was rehabbing, so he was the 10 for the whole pre-season. So he was given a little bit of the reins and trying to see how he goes. I think that’s really helped him, saying this is kind of your team now, you look after it for the next couple of weeks and I think he’s improved and he went well in Lyon, so it’s good growth.
“He’s kind of different to some of the other 10s that we’ve had who’ve grown up being obsessed with rugby since they were four or five or whatever, he obviously came to a little bit later, but he’s got all the skills, that’s why there’s so much excitement about him. But I think he’s starting to get a little bit of that maturity and game understanding and IQ, which is so important for a 10.”
Gabriel brings something different to the party, and as O’Brien sees it, that’s just what Leinster need more of.
“That kind of X factor is something that we’re trying to encourage people to express themselves.
“We’ve all got to this level by being very good at certain things and we don’t want to coach that out of you and become an all-round decent player, we want players who can really express themselves for certain things.”
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Tommy O'Brien: 'We're trying to encourage people to express themselves'
THINGS DIDN’T QUITE work out the way Tommy O’Brien would have liked over the last few months. Most notably, he missed out on Ireland’s July Nations Championship Tests with a groin injury. That same problem impacted his golf game, just when the 28-year-old had hoped “this was going to be my summer” on the course.
Yet most importantly, the biggest day of all went perfectly, O’Brien marrying his partner Zoe Connolly in late August.
“I was hoping I’d have four weeks away from wedding planning (with the Ireland tour), but I was at home and available,” O’Brien laughs.
“We had a great day, it stayed dry for us, we were too hot in the tuxedos!”
After a short honeymoon in Greece, the focus is now very much back to the day job. The winger has been completing various fitness tests with an eye to returning to training next week. If all goes to plan, he’ll be available for Leinster’s URC opener away to the Lions on 26 September.
And it’s going to feel like a different Leinster this season, with the province losing a considerable amount of experience over the summer as Luke McGrath, Ciarán Frawley, Rabah Slimani, Will Connors and James Lowe all moved on.
“There’s a lot of characters we’ve lost who are going to be missed, not only on the pitch but off it as well. But always the strength of Leinster has been the guys coming up and the ability to coach them to be the next wave of people that replace the older guys that leave.”
O’Brien has gone through that journey himself, overcoming long-standing injury battles to become a key man for not just Leinster, but also Ireland.
Last season was his most impressive yet, playing 22 games for province and country while providing key moments on some of the biggest days, scoring tries in Twickenham and the URC final alongside some memorable defensive plays.
The former Blackrock man continues to add layers to his game, and cites the influence of All Black pair Jordie Barrett and Rieko Ioane over recent seasons.
Barrett, he recalls, brought “an insane growth mindset” to the training pitch. Where others would opt to steer clear of Sam Prendergast’s spiral bomb kicks to avoid “looking bad”, Barrett would ask the out-half to “kick up as many as he can, he just wanted to challenge himself the whole time.”
Ioane was a different profile, a highly athletic winger able to pick his moments and use his physicality to beat defenders, sharing some of those traits with the now departed Lowe.
“But it’s probably why the likes of a Lowey has had so much success and is so popular with fans, because he can do that beating people one-on-one. It’s definitely a work-on for myself and a few others.”
There’s no all-star All Black around this time, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t any fresh thinking in the building. Joey Carbery is back at his home province after spells with Munster and Bordeaux-Begles, and O’Brien is already getting new insights from the returning Leinster man.
“Fantastic, that kind of rugby IQ, being able to pick his brains personally and then in meetings and stuff we’ve been trying to find out a little bit about what goes on (in Bordeaux).
“There’s a little bit of, it is quite as French as you imagine, they just do their own thing sometimes he was saying, but some of that stuff is great. You can probably say that maybe we’re sometimes a little bit too structured and that’s what’s got us great success, but there’s obviously an element there to that, the structure is to create opportunities and then you’ve got to be able to express yourself rather than relying on the structure to break teams down 100%.
“So there’s been some great learnings there and I think he’s going to be great for the likes of Caspar (Gabriel) and mentoring these young guys, and hopefully they’re going to want them to step up a little bit, but he’s obviously keen to play as much as he can and get himself back in the Irish mix as well.”
The influence of Jacques Nienaber has also shaped O’Brien’s thinking on the game over the last couple of seasons.
“Obviously it took a while. The first few months of him bringing the system, we were all over the place, but once people were fully bought in, I think you can see how effective it can be.
“I love it personally. Maybe the one area where you do have to make a bit more decision-making is out in the wings because you’re the one defending a little bit more space. But you have the licence to go and make reads; he’s never going to give out to you for making a read if you feel like you can make it.
“But it’s kind of down to yourself, if you make it, you’re the hero and if you mess up, you’re the zero. So I really enjoy the impact that I feel I can bring to the game.”
And as ever, there is excitement around some of the younger Leinster crop pushing through.
Out-half Caspar Gabriel (20) featured in last weekend’s pre-season meeting against Lyon, and O’Brien feels the talented Austrian has kicked on since winning his first cap last season.
Gabriel is not your typical Leinster player, having moved to Ireland at the age of 14 to play rugby at Terenure College. As a result, he was far from star-struck when he turned up for his first Leinster training session.
“He read all our names on the back of our jerseys and didn’t know that Harry and Ross (Byrne) are brothers until he spotted the names on the back,” O’Brien explains.
“I think Frawls was one of the only lads he knew because the red head stood out. But, yeah, it was kind of a breath of fresh air.
“I think it was great for him over the summer, Harry was away, Sam’s away, Frawls is gone, Joey was rehabbing, so he was the 10 for the whole pre-season. So he was given a little bit of the reins and trying to see how he goes. I think that’s really helped him, saying this is kind of your team now, you look after it for the next couple of weeks and I think he’s improved and he went well in Lyon, so it’s good growth.
“He’s kind of different to some of the other 10s that we’ve had who’ve grown up being obsessed with rugby since they were four or five or whatever, he obviously came to a little bit later, but he’s got all the skills, that’s why there’s so much excitement about him. But I think he’s starting to get a little bit of that maturity and game understanding and IQ, which is so important for a 10.”
Gabriel brings something different to the party, and as O’Brien sees it, that’s just what Leinster need more of.
“That kind of X factor is something that we’re trying to encourage people to express themselves.
“We’ve all got to this level by being very good at certain things and we don’t want to coach that out of you and become an all-round decent player, we want players who can really express themselves for certain things.”
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