Sean O’Brien isn’t a man who over thinks things.
If the ball is there to be won, it’s normally won.
And if a French player is annoying the bejaysus out of him in the opening minutes of a World Cup clash, well he’s going to get thumped simple as.
The Ireland international of course was punished for his punch on Pascal Pape last month with a one week ban, which ruled him out of Ireland’s demise at the hands of Argentina in the quarter-finals.
However speaking ahead of this weekend’s opening Champions’Cup clash Wasps at the RDS, the Tullow Tank admitted that if he had to do it al over again, he would
“If you look at it in real time, it was so quick. It was a thing that probably shouldn’t have happened obviously and I paid the price for it afterwards.”
“At the same time, there’s a part of me that regrets it and a part of me that doesn’t. I think it put a statement out to a few of their bully boys that we weren’t going to be bullied. Obviously, the bigger picture, it shouldn’t have happened but it did and that’s the way it is.”
O’Brien’s hearing before the citing commissioners lasted what seemed an eternity with the back row eventually being hit wit a two week ban, which was reduced to one on good behaviour.
The 28-year-old admits that he was angry towards the player in question, as well as how the French management dealt with he entire incident
“You know, that’s something he probably wanted to do himself. If the shoe was on the other foot I certainly wouldn’t be whinging or crying about it. But that’s the decision they made and I think their coach had a big part to play in it as well with the way he reacted.”
“It shouldn’t have happened. I shouldn’t have done it. That would have taken everything out of the equation then. But they made a good song and dance about it when they had an opportunity to.”
