“Trying to get that Grand Slam [is the goal] at a personal level.”
Sean O’Brien would be the only Irish player to come straight out and say something like that before a ball was kicked in a Six Nations.
He expects the very best and he gives the very best. His body may be held together by baling twine, staples and the best medical care professional rugby can buy but whatever his level of fitness, he always gives it 100%.
He was head and shoulders Ireland’s best player at Murrayfield this afternoon. He won turnovers, he tackled with conviction, he made clean breaks and he drove his team forward. He was their talisman.
When every single of the men around him lost his head, O’Brien was on it. He coaxed and cursed. He took the ball on and he was one of the few men in green to stop a surging Scottish team in the tracks during that blitzkrieg first half.
Ireland came out for the second half a team renewed. Unsurprisingly, it was O’Brien that got them going.
He climbed into the Scots from the re-start. One crunching tackle followed by another and a vital turnover won.
The Scots had coughed up plenty of winning positions over the past two years and Ireland bit back. They sensed an opening and knew they needed a score to set tremors among the hosts. Iain Henderson barged over after Irish pressure but they were not letting up.
There was another searing line break and the Leinster flanker had the Scots on the back-foot. He was gaining metres with each carry and, as opposed to a stolid first half, so were his colleagues.
Conor Murray and Paddy Jackson did not have their finest hours but they linked up for the converted score that, for the first time on the day, put Ireland ahead for the first time [22-21].
https://twitter.com/JMNeethling/status/827908876343324673
O’Brien stayed on two minutes after that score but left with 15 minutes to go. He had not played for four weeks before today but gave everything for 65 minutes. It was all we could have asked of him after a warrior’s performance.
In attack he had gained 40 metres off 14 carries that included two clean breaks, four defenders beaten and two offloads. In defence, he made eight of his nine tackles attempted and gained two turnovers.
He left with his team winning but had to watch from the sidelines as his teammates went back to their errant ways. He must have been seething as they conceded two late, careless penalties that lost them the game, 27-22. It lost Ireland, and O’Brien, another Grand Slam.
O’Brien has now played four times since the 2015 World Cup. He has only beaten Canada.
He declared himself fit and ready to play the All Blacks in Chicago and was in a plane heading from Parma [with Leinster] when history was made. He got a chance two weeks later, played superbly, and lost for the fifth time against the Kiwis.
O’Brien does not care about what’s fair. He just cares about winning. He didn’t deserve to be on the losing side today but he doesn’t care about that either.
Another Grand Slam gone.
He must have looked around the away dressing room at Murrayfield and he must have been seething.
You wouldn’t blame him.
