EADESTOWN’S JIMMY O’BRIEN PUTTING WORLD CUP DISAPPOINTMENT BEHIND HIM
United Rugby Championship – Leinster V Scarlets – Preview
By Daire Walsh
Considering what could have been, Eadestown’s Jimmy O’Brien was pleased to be able to play some part for Ireland at the Rugby World Cup in France.
During the course of his side’s 17-13 triumph over Samoa in their final warm-up game before heading off to the tournament – a game that saw him bagging his first senior international try – O’Brien injured his shoulder and was replaced by Ross Byrne with 53 minutes gone on the clock. This led to him undergoing a series of checks and while he was ultimately named in Andy Farrell’s 33-man selection for the RWC, he was still rehabbing his injury during the early week of their campaign.
Although he subsequently regained full fitness, the former Newbridge College student was the only member of the Irish squad not to feature in the pool stages of the World Cup. He could have played against Tonga in their second game of Pool B at a push, but Ireland’s coaching staff erred on the side of caution.
He also missed out on the match day 23 for crunch encounters with South Africa and Scotland, before he eventually made the cut for the quarter-final bout against New Zealand at Stade de France on October 14. While it was known at the time of the Samoan game that he had a problem with his shoulder, it wasn’t until the pre-match press conference for the All Blacks game that Farrell revealed the versatile back had been working his way back for an extended period behind the scenes.
“I was just delighted to go in the end. I went for a scan when we landed coming back from Samoa, just before the squad was getting picked. That was pretty much fine, the MRI, but I had to go for an x-ray then after,” O’Brien explained at a Leinster media briefing this week.
“They said they’d name me in the squad, but the result didn’t come in until that evening. I was just named and [it was a case of] they’ll manage me over there. See how it is. I was just delighted to go and just had to do a bit of rehab over there at the start.
“It would have been a bit disappointing if I didn’t get to play at all, but at the same time, it was an unbelievable experience over there. I was delighted when I got picked and got a bit of game time. That kind of made it for me.”
Despite his lack of game time leading up to it, O’Brien did make a strong impact after taking over from Mack Hansen in the 56th minute of the New Zealand game. While it was once again a case of quarter-final heartache for Ireland as a collective, he managed to gain an impressive 68 metres off nine carries following his second half introduction.
To provide an illustration of just how seamlessly he fitted into the Irish back-three, only Bundee Aki and James Lowe carried for more metres against the All Blacks – and they both played the full 80 minutes in Saint-Denis.
Yet while he came in cold by way of comparison to the rest of the Ireland selection for the tie, O’Brien did his best to play down this particular fact.
“Personally I was just going on against New Zealand. It was another game of rugby when I got on the pitch and the first moment settled me down. I straight away asked Johnny [Sexton] the call. He told me the call and just kind of get into it.
“Not try and overthink it, overthink the whole occasion and going into different positions. Just ask the lads around ‘what do you think?’ if I don’t know. Just be as calm as possible. If you’re panicking, they’ll start panicking that you don’t know what you’re doing. Just be calm and talk to them and get on the pitch. It seems to go better.”
Given the New Zealand game proved to be his solitary appearance at the tournament, O’Brien was unsurprisingly one of the World Cup contingent that returned for Leinster in their visit to Dragons in the United Rugby Championship last Sunday. He is also expected to feature in the RDS on Saturday when the eastern province entertain Scarlets in the URC.
Though there wasn’t a massive overhaul in the off-season, O’Brien returned to a Leinster set-up that has undergone some degree of change. In addition to Jonathan Sexton bringing the curtain down on his professional playing career, Stuart Lancaster also vacated the role of Leinster senior coach to assume the reins at Top 14 outfit Racing 92.
Whereas the Byrne brothers (Ross and Harry), Suncroft native Sam Prendergast and Charlie Tector will be battling it out for the number 10 jersey, Jacques Nienaber will fill the void left by Lancaster.
The latter is yet to officially take up the post – he is on an extended break after leading South Africa to a World Cup title at the end of last month – but will more than likely be in camp ahead of tomorrow week’s tussle with his former employers Munster at the Aviva Stadium.
However, even though Sexton and Lancaster were two major members of the Leinster camp, O’Brien acknowledged it isn’t the first time that significant figures have departed the province.
“Every year it feels a bit different. Obviously this is my first kind of change of coach. Stuart came in my first year I came into the academy, so he’s been here my whole time. There is change, but you get used to it every year. In the squad, there are people retiring, new lads coming in,” O’Brien added.
“There is young lads here who it’s the first time I’ve met a few of them. You have to get to know them. So there is change every year. Obviously Johnny who was a massive part of it and Stu, but you just have to keep going. There is games coming up, you can’t really dwell on it.”