Sean O’Brien does not do backwards steps. Ask anyone whoever played against him.
That Tullow Tank just keeps rumbling.
While there was some suggestion he could be dropped in favour of line-out specialist Peter O’Mahony for today’s final Six Nations game against history-chasing England, Joe Schmidt stuck with the Leinster back-row, who would have been a very undeserving casualty.
For the first time in four years he has been available for every Six Nations game and Ireland need a fit and firing O’Brien in the back-row. He is powerful, disruptive, inspirational and dogged.
Speaking on SportsJOE’s rugby podcast, the Hard Yards, Ronan O’Gara summed it up well by simply describing his former team-mate as “a gem”.
“It’ll be a sad day if England out desire us in the Aviva. I could not accept or believe that, when I look at fellas like [Rory] Best, Donnacha Ryan, Sean O’Brien,” he said.
“I think Sean O’Brien is a gem. This is what he stands for, this game at the weekend.
“He has great values, that guy.”
O’Gara compares O’Brien’s influence to his former Ireland and Munster team-mate Denis Leamy.
“Denis Leamy was a monster. He might only speak once every three months, but it would last for three months, if you know what I mean. That is really important,” said O’Gara.
“Everyone was like, ‘speak more often. This guy is brilliant'”.
In a fascinating piece of insight, he also highlights Keith Earls as someone who might speak rarely but speaks powerfully.
Listen to the whole show below, with the Sean O’Brien conversation starting around 17’45”.
