Sean O'Brien

[carlow man]

Makes his long awaited debut for London Irish tomorrow night. Starts at blindside, L.I are away to sale sharks. Best of luck seanie!!!

[Logorrhea]

For all our talk of Backrow talent coming through, we are still a mile away from replacing him. Class player, still being missed.

[wixfjord]

For all our talk of Backrow talent coming through, we are still a mile away from replacing him. Class player, still being missed.

Hmm...are we talking 2018/9 Sean O'Brien or 2011 Tullow Tank?

Because they're very different beasts!

[carlow man]

Seem to remember him being motm against Toulouse in the quarter final last year so he's wasnt exactly a shadow of his former self!!

[LeinsterLeader]

Seen a terrible click bait article yesterday where an ex-Munster player said they tried to get him to sign for Munster cause he was "more like them, then the Leinster lads"

They're gas!

[Xanthippe]

Seem to remember him being motm against Toulouse in the quarter final last year so he's wasnt exactly a shadow of his former self!!

The game against Toulouse was the semi final and Sexton was MOTM. The last time SOB for a MOTM was October 2017 when he captained us away to Ulster in the P14

[Morf]

Hopefully it goes well for him and he can get a half dozen games before the end of the season.

[carlow man]

Seem to remember him being motm against Toulouse in the quarter final last year so he's wasnt exactly a shadow of his former self!!

The game against Toulouse was the semi final and Sexton was MOTM. The last time SOB for a MOTM was October 2017 when he captained us away to Ulster in the P14

Well he was my motm!! And a few around me thought the same. Not bad for a fella playing on one leg at the time. He had a cracker that day!

[curates_egg]

For all our talk of Backrow talent coming through, we are still a mile away from replacing him. Class player, still being missed.

We’ve been missing him since 2013!
If you think we haven’t replaced his 4/5 games a year, you must be watching a different side to me.
Have any of those that have replaced him reached his 2011-13 height? Only Leavy has come close. But he’s long replaced for most of our seasons.
Sure, he would have one or two great games for us each year, but be realistic.

[blockhead]

For all our talk of Backrow talent coming through, we are still a mile away from replacing him. Class player, still being missed.

We’ve been missing him since 2013!
If you think we haven’t replaced his 4/5 games a year, you must be watching a different side to me.
Have any of those that have replaced him reached his 2011-13 height? Only Leavy has come close. But he’s long replaced for most of our seasons.
Sure, he would have one or two great games for us each year, but be realistic.

Agreed.
Fabulous, fabulous rugby player. A Leinster Legend, absolutely.
But he was hardly ever available for Leinster. More so for Ireland and or course, the Lions.
When he did play for us he was fantastic.

[blockhead]

Seen a terrible click bait article yesterday where an ex-Munster player said they tried to get him to sign for Munster cause he was "more like them, then the Leinster lads"

They're gas!

So what does "more like them" mean now in 2020?
Has Leinster Senior Cup experience?
Grew up on the Highveld?
Dreamed of playing for England?

[paddyor]

Seem to remember him being motm against Toulouse in the quarter final last year so he's wasnt exactly a shadow of his former self!!

The game against Toulouse was the semi final and Sexton was MOTM. The last time SOB for a MOTM was October 2017 when he captained us away to Ulster in the P14

That was shortly after MOTM vs Exeter away IIRC?

[cormac]

44 appearances in his last 6 seasons for us. In that same time-frame he played 29 times for Ireland and 11 times for the Lions (6 in Aus, 5 in NZ).

At his best he was a game changer, unfortunately we didn't get to see that often enough for Leinster in the second half of his career.

[curates_egg]

44 appearances in his last 6 seasons for us. In that same time-frame he played 29 times for Ireland and 11 times for the Lions (6 in Aus, 5 in NZ).

At his best he was a game changer, unfortunately we didn't get to see that often enough for Leinster in the second half of his career.

I actually didn't realise he had played that many games for us. That's over 7 games average a season. I would have thought it was max 6.

For someone that seemed to be constantly injured, his appearance record for the Lions was astonishingly good. He almost played every game he could have.
I never really begrudged his clear prioritisation of international rugby over Leinster. I wished it wasn't so, but didn't begrudge him his choice.
As someone, who really dislikes HSBC Lions Ltd., I always found that stuck in the craw a bit though.

[JB1973]

From an outsiders point of view, SOB was a very unusual player. He didn't have the skills set of a classic 6 or a classic 7 and he was proably a little bit small to be a top level 8 , yet he was an effective force when ever he played any of those positions.

He was a terrific ball carrier, decent over the ball (not up there with mccaw pockcok , warburton types) and generally aggressive enough in his all round play to be an effective defender.

I always thought his best position was a 6 with a genuine open side playing with him, I know it's still a sore one for you guys but the biggest selection error gatland made in 2013 was not starting him alongside warburton in the first 2 tests

Sadly with the way he played and the sheer amount of contact he was involved in, his career was always likely to be affected by injuries.

He was often charging into men who were stones heavier then him and he was using his body as a battering ram and that clearly has taken it's toll.

I admire his forthright comments about the lions coaching and it is good to see honesty in the game.

I wish him well but with his style of play, his injury record and the physical nature of the premiership I have my doubts over providing value for money for l irish when you consider his salary.

For what it's worth If I could pick a "dream " leinster back row of recent years, I would have him at 6 leavy 7 and heaslip 8. I'm ruling out elsom on grounds of longevity

[Peg Leg]

Sean broke through at Leinster and was a revelation that saw his progression quickly rewarded with international caps. From there he played the "big games" for Leinster and the test matches. As the injuries mounted Sean rehab'd at Leinster for the test matches.
Any time he did play though every player on the pitch felt his presence either positively as a team mate or painfully as opponents. He is one of those players that brought more to the game than time on the pitch, local hero, big coaching contributor with Tullow and someone whose commitment and energy attracted people to the game, he's a f%~king hero!! Hope he has a great time at LI and it works out.

[curates_egg]

Sean broke through at Leinster and was a revelation that saw his progression quickly rewarded with international caps. From there he played the "big games" for Leinster and the test matches. As the injuries mounted Sean rehab'd at Leinster for the test matches.
Any time he did play though every player on the pitch felt his presence either positively as a team mate or painfully as opponents. He is one of those players that brought more to the game than time on the pitch, local hero, big coaching contributor with Tullow and someone whose commitment and energy attracted people to the game, he's a f%~king hero!! Hope he has a great time at LI and it works out.

That's a good summary.
I also obviously wish him well at LI and hope he doesn't do more damage to his body, and sets himself up for the next stage.

I struggle to imagine a better Ireland back row than 2011 Ferris-O'Brien-Heaslip.
I'm not sure if Rocky-O'Brien-Heaslip ever played in the same XV that 2008/9 season, but it was the 2010/11 season when SOB really entered total beast mode for the first time.

[FLIP]

Sean broke through at Leinster and was a revelation that saw his progression quickly rewarded with international caps. From there he played the "big games" for Leinster and the test matches. As the injuries mounted Sean rehab'd at Leinster for the test matches.
Any time he did play though every player on the pitch felt his presence either positively as a team mate or painfully as opponents. He is one of those players that brought more to the game than time on the pitch, local hero, big coaching contributor with Tullow and someone whose commitment and energy attracted people to the game, he's a f%~king hero!! Hope he has a great time at LI and it works out.

That's a good summary.
I also obviously wish him well at LI and hope he doesn't do more damage to his body, and sets himself up for the next stage.

I struggle to imagine a better Ireland back row than 2011 Ferris-O'Brien-Heaslip.
I'm not sure if Rocky-O'Brien-Heaslip ever played in the same XV that 2008/9 season, but it was the 2010/11 season when SOB really entered total beast mode for the first time.

Was it the 2009 season where SOB helped tear open the Scarlets a new one? Or was that 2010?

[cormac]

Sean broke through at Leinster and was a revelation that saw his progression quickly rewarded with international caps. From there he played the "big games" for Leinster and the test matches. As the injuries mounted Sean rehab'd at Leinster for the test matches.
Any time he did play though every player on the pitch felt his presence either positively as a team mate or painfully as opponents. He is one of those players that brought more to the game than time on the pitch, local hero, big coaching contributor with Tullow and someone whose commitment and energy attracted people to the game, he's a f%~king hero!! Hope he has a great time at LI and it works out.

That's a good summary.
I also obviously wish him well at LI and hope he doesn't do more damage to his body, and sets himself up for the next stage.

I struggle to imagine a better Ireland back row than 2011 Ferris-O'Brien-Heaslip.
I'm not sure if Rocky-O'Brien-Heaslip ever played in the same XV that 2008/9 season, but it was the 2010/11 season when SOB really entered total beast mode for the first time.

They started three games together that season. The home wins against Castres (33-3) and Cardiff (21-20) and an away win against Ulster (13-21). Also finished a few games as a unit.

[LeinsterLeader]

For all our talk of Backrow talent coming through, we are still a mile away from replacing him. Class player, still being missed.

We’ve been missing him since 2013!
If you think we haven’t replaced his 4/5 games a year, you must be watching a different side to me.
Have any of those that have replaced him reached his 2011-13 height? Only Leavy has come close. But he’s long replaced for most of our seasons.
Sure, he would have one or two great games for us each year, but be realistic.

Agreed.
Fabulous, fabulous rugby player. A Leinster Legend, absolutely.
But he was hardly ever available for Leinster. More so for Ireland and or course, the Lions.
When he did play for us he was fantastic.

Ja'know that was exactly my thoughts. What does "more like them" mean?

I was going to tweet the guy who wrote the article but then I thought "Fup it..... let it go" (he was the same guy who wrote an article after the Scotland game about how we wouldn't have won without the Munster players ).