Versatile Jimmy O’Brien rides crest of the wave to potential Ireland debut – The Irish Times & More News Here

This time a 12 months in the past, Jimmy O’Brien wouldn’t have been too prominently positioned on Ireland’s radar however as his good mate Hugo Keenan has additionally demonstrated, if a participant could make it at Leinster then the subsequent step all of the sudden isn’t too far-off.

O’Brien had solely performed one Champions Cup match prior to this season, however his run of video games and type with Leinster ought to lead to him pulling on the inexperienced jersey at senior degree for the first time. It is probably not a Test per se, however at least for a lot of of the Maori All Blacks, Wednesday’s opening tour sport at the FMG Stadium in Hamilton (kick-off 7.05pm native time/8.05am Irish) shall be the excessive level of O’Brien’s profession to date.

“Yeah, it would be top, more than likely. I haven’t even thought about it like that to be honest but to play for Ireland has been a dream, pretty much for everyone playing rugby in Ireland growing up, and it was my dream as well.”

Indeed, for the boy from GAA territory in Kildare, the dream was harnessed in an unlikely means.

“My dad brought me and my younger brother to the Heineken Cup final in 2006 in the Millennium Stadium when Munster won. Because Leinster and Munster were in the semi-final he bought tickets for the final before that match.

“I wasn’t a big fan then, I was so young,” recalled O’Brien after the squad’s coaching session final Saturday.

As to whether or not he wore purple or not, he laughed. “I don’t think I did to be honest, but I’m not sure!”

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One reminiscence from that day in Cardiff when Munster lastly reached the promised land by beating Biarritz stands out. “Some Munster lad behind my brother just picked him up when they scored, so he went flying up in the air. My brother was eight and he was fairly scared, and was like: ‘what’s going on?’ Yer man was like: ‘I’m sorry, I was just overtaken there.’ It was good craic.”

Another abiding reminiscence was Ireland’s Grand Slam coronation in the similar floor three years later.

“I remember watching that in Naas Rugby Club, with my dad, my uncles and my brother. So that’s probably my earliest memory of wanting to play for Ireland.”

O’Brien started taking part in mini rugby with the Naas under-7s by the affect of his uncle Toby Sheridan. Needless to say, till Tadhg Beirne got here alongside, Eadestown wasn’t identified for its rugby gamers, albeit Rowan Osborne and Connacht’s Diarmuid Kilgallen have since emerged as nicely.

[ Eadestown GAA proves a fertile breeding ground for rugby success ]

“When I was younger Emmet Bolton, was the big shot in Eadestown, because he was playing for Kildare and was one of their best players, but there were no real rugby players around until Tadgh started playing.”

O’Brien was initially a scrumhalf with Newbridge College earlier than switching to outhalf and centre, returning to Naas in fourth 12 months at school when declining the college’s request to play towards Blackrock in the Senior Cup.

“I was like: ‘I don’t want to play. We’re going to lose like 100-nil.’ So they didn’t ask me back again that season. I went back playing for Naas and they did end up losing by 70-0 or something.”

O’Brien additionally performed gaelic soccer from the age of six or seven by to 17 earlier than Leinster under-age call-ups meant rugby held sway.

After a 12 months in Leinster’s sub-academy, he was promoted to their senior academy earlier than a two-year detour on the 7s, which maybe each benefitted and hindered his 15-a-side profession.

“I think you can look at it both ways,” he admitted. “It could have delayed my chances of playing with Leinster but it also probably made me a better player, because I went into the academy as a ‘10/12′, and now I’m like a winger/fullback.

“It definitely helped with speed and it probably helped me find a position, so definitely there’s a lot of things it helped. Maybe I could have been playing for Leinster earlier but would I have been playing? Or would I have made it then if I didn’t have that (7s exposure)? I get asked that question a lot and I’ve thought about it a lot but I don’t know.”

He reckons his long-range passing, one-on-one tackling in house had been additionally sharpened by his time with the Ireland 7s, when his friendship with Keenan grew. The latter’s dad and mom, Avril and Paul, will journey to New Zealand with O’Brien’s, John and Caroline.

“The four of them are doing a joint trip, so they’re delighted. I think they’re actually missing the first game, which is disappointing, but they’ll be over for two and a half weeks, so I’m looking forward to seeing them.”

This tour is all the extra welcome after the anti-climactic finale to Leinster’s season.

“It was tough after the Heineken Cup final especially, very tough. I was convinced we were going to win it all the way up until whenever they scored. I can still remember looking at the clock, 78.50 and thinking: ‘I’m pretty sure he’s 90 seconds to kick it (the conversion)’.

“Some lads went: ‘No, he’s 60.’ I was pretty sure it was 90, and that will stick with me forever I’d say, that feeling in my stomach when that happened.”

It’s a measure of O’Brien’s versatility than in his 42 begins up to now for Leinster, 21 have been at fullback, 10 at outdoors centre, 5 on the left wing and 6 on the proper wing. There have been transient cameos at ‘9′ and ‘10′ too, with O’Brien the nominated stand-in at scrumhalf in the occasion of a yellow card in that place, as occurred in the Champions Cup last-16 first leg away to Connacht. Such versatility could possibly be a useful commodity in the Irish set-up and alternative knocks for him now like by no means earlier than.

“It’s a big opportunity to get picked on it (the squad). There’s so many good back three players in Ireland. I’m just hoping to get into one of the Test sides. That would be the big goal.”

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