O’Brien: When you’re out, you won’t hear from Joe
SEÁN O’BRIEN has admitted that he had no contact with head coach Joe Schmidt during the recent Six Nations. Surgery on a hip problem meant the flanker was forced to sit out the entire tournament, and despite his absence being regularly noted by Schmidt, he revealed that the only contact he’s had was with the Ireland medical staff. ‘I haven’t heard from Joe at all,’ O’Brien said. ‘Once you’re out you’re out. Every player knows that. The physios are in contact and relaying stuff back but that’s the way it’s always been and that’s always been his style. ‘You don’t pay much attention to it because when you’re fit you know that you could potentially be involved, and when you’re not [fit] you know you’re out. ‘The management has a massive job to do so that they are prepared as best as possible and that’s what they’ve done. That was an incredible campaign, the way they went about it.’ O’Brien also revealed that having missed Leinster’s defeat of Saracens, he is hopeful of making a return to action in the Pro14 against Treviso next week ahead of the Champions Cup semifinal clash with Scarlets on April 22.
SEÁN O’Brien could be speaking about the own career, but instead he’s discussing the trajectory of the current Ireland rugby team, who have been swatting all-comers despite his absence this year.
‘Hopefully there’s better days ahead,’ he says. The flanker has been around long enough to know how ruthless professional rugby can be, but 2018 has been a particularly difficult time for him. It’s must be hard not to feel as though you’re missing out.
While Ireland bulldozed England to complete the Grand Slam on St Patrick’s Day, he was tucked up in a quiet pub, watching on as his teammates and friends celebrated on the Twickenham turf without him.
What’s more, he didn’t play a single minute in the campaign having undergone hip surgery in January.
O’Brien, 31, had been clinging to the hope that he would make a return to action in time for that Grand Slam decider, but just 90 seconds into his Leinster comeback against Scarlets the week beforehand, he took a bang to the shoulder that resulted in another spell on the sidelines.
‘I was swearing inside [coming off against Scarlets] because it was tough,’ he says. ‘I knew what was coming and I just wanted to get a f ****** game under my belt, basically, and get back going at it. I had been frustrated with the hip and got that under control and sorted, and for this to come when it did was just very bad timing.
‘It was frustrating, because I probably would have backed myself if I’d played 50 [minutes] against Scarlets to be involved [against England] if I’d played any way well at all. But I knew after 90 seconds that I was in trouble. That was that.
‘I knew then that the following week wasn’t going to be realistic. So very frustrating, yeah, but you can only be delighted for the way they went about their business.’
The flanker is no stranger to injury setbacks, but admits the disappointment doesn’t get any easier to handle with experience.
Over the course of the Six Nations he had no contact with Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt, and is yet to have any discussions about the summer tour to Australia, games he feels he needs to be involved in.
‘It’s probably part and parcel of it now, but it is tough, obviously,’ he continues.
‘You miss the big days, those big days that you’ve worked so hard for and you want to be involved in. When you miss the likes of a Grand Slam year like this year, it does hurt a little bit, but I always try to look at the positives. Probably a few years ago I didn’t look at much positives, but now I try to.
‘So next year is a World Cup year and there’s a Six Nations to play, so there are two massive opportunities to go and win two more trophies, hopefully.
‘Everyone says to me now, “How do you keep going?”, but I look forward to what’s ahead. If I get injured, I get injured, but that’s all part of it now.’
In terms of shorter-term goals, O’Brien is hoping to be back for next weekend’s Pro14 clash with Treviso, a game he is looking to use as a springboard before the more serious business of the Champions Cup semi-final clash with Scarlets the following week at Lansdowne Road.
He was touch-and-go for Sunday’s European quarter-final with Saracens, but removed himself from the selection conversation on the Thursday before the game after deciding he wasn’t at the required level.
‘I didn’t want to go out there and not be able to perform to the level that was probably required at the weekend,’ he explains.
‘As you saw it was a physical game, I wanted to be 100 per cent right going into that game because I’m no good to the team [if I’m not right].’
Now the focus is on getting back and helping Leinster land a first European Cup in six years, and O’Brien concedes that while he will tune in to watch Munster’s last four clash with Racing the day beforehand, he’s not overly fussed about whether the province can beat the French giants.
‘I don’t really mind who’s in the final, to be honest with you, so it wouldn’t bother me — once we are.
‘Obviously, I have a good relationship with a lot of the Munster players, I’m not going to be shouting or screaming for them, though.
‘I respect what they’re about, and the club and the history and all of that, of course you do, but as long as we get through what we have to get through, that’s the most important thing for us.’
Seán O’Brien was speaking at the launch of the The Bank of Ireland Leinster Rugby Summer Camps in De La Salle Palmerstown. For more information log on to www.leinsterrugby.ie/camps