Sean O'Brien Announces Retirement

Clegg · 08-04-2022 10:51am #1

Sean O'Brien will retire at the end of the season. At his very best I think he was one of the best players in the world and will be remembered as one of Ireland's best of the professional era.

He's the most destructive ball carrier I've ever seen play for Leinster or Ireland and was a menace at the ruck. Against New Zealand in 2013 he put in the best individual performance I've ever seen from an Irish player. Still yet to be topped by anyone.

It's such a shame that injuries curtailed his career so much. He has 50 caps for Ireland, but it should have been 100. I think it's a measure of his talent that he suffered so many injury enforced absences, yet still come back to play at a world class level when it mattered. Five test caps for the Lions across two tours shows how highly he was rated amongst his peers in Britain as well.

https://twitter.com/SeanOBrien1987/status/1512353741554475009?t=7Dfol3XdwDkn_FWFZg9LcA&s=09

thebaz · 08-04-2022 12:22pm

Phenomonal player , helped get rid of the soft centre at Leinster , and make them a winning tough team - sorely missed at WC '15 QF , a beast of a player. Great memories.

Fudged · 08-04-2022 12:56pm

And the hardness he brought would be why? Because he had a farming background? Because he p1ssed on people in nightclubs?

Guys like Hickie, Miller and Costello? And even o Driscoll? We’re they soft? Who or what exactly was soft about it - name a person and explain why they were soft.

Dave_The_Sheep · 08-04-2022 1:43pm

Loved his carry at the end of this clip (I mean Healy's was probably better but still). Players falling and hanging off him, not a bother.

https://streamable.com/73i8x8

joseywhales · 08-04-2022 1:57pm

He had a bit of everything really, football, speed , evasion but behind it all was a kind of rage to physically dominate anyone that came near to him, sometimes to his detriment, loved watching him in the wider channels and linking play.

phog · 08-04-2022 2:05pm

What a player, if he played for any other country we'd be raving about him when he'd come to play against us.

We've had some talent visit Thomond Park on big rugby occasions but we see the likes of BOD, Sexton and SOB so much that sometimes we don't get to appreciate how great they actually are

Wishing him the very best in his next chapter of life.

[Deleted User] · 08-04-2022 2:05pm

Leaving aside his off field issues, one of the best athletes we've ever produced with a remarkable mix of speed, power and toughness. Some of his best performances rank as some of the all time great performances of any Irish player in the pro era. Going to go watch him clear out three Frenchmen.

Fudged · 08-04-2022 2:35pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118898508#Comment_118898508

Indeed he was a remarkable player but I think his strength was what made him. Aggravated that someone would use it to get a dig in against Leinster people. And yes 95% of its supporters are “soft” and work in the professions. Should it we make so that that isn’t so? I dont wish to derail any further but took exception to his misguided views.

Interested Observer · 08-04-2022 2:44pm

Definitely in our absolute elite tier of pro-era players alongside BOD, POC, Heaslip, Sexton imo. What a player.

Former Former Former · 08-04-2022 2:46pm

Absolutely one of the best players we've produced in the last 30 years. It's very rare we produce guys with his combination of power, speed and footballing ability.

Cosmo Kramer · 08-04-2022 3:04pm

Shame to see him retire, was an outstanding player at his peak but the legacy of the injuries has meant that he hasn't been the same player in recent years and it seems like he has been aiming towards this for a while.

ohnonotgmail · 08-04-2022 3:20pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118898394#Comment_118898394

it was like watching an underage match with one player who developed much earlier than everybody else. The catch from Nacewa was pretty tasty as well.

OldRio · 08-04-2022 4:33pm

Earlier in the week I was reading an article on Dan Leavy. There was a photograph of both him and Sean O'Brien walking onto the pitch together wearing Irish jerseys.

Who would have thought that within a week both would announce their retirements.

thebaz · 08-04-2022 6:03pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118898182#Comment_118898182

There was a softness to a very talented Leinster group up to around 2007 - wasn't just O'Brien that changed this , Leo, Rocky and others including O'Brien played a big part in becoming winners. Not going to name individuals.

Fudged · 08-04-2022 6:18pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118899668#Comment_118899668

Excuse my ignorance on this - are you a Munster or Leinster fan?

thegreycity · 08-04-2022 6:19pm

Clegg · 08-04-2022 6:41pm

Leinster were definitely soft in the mid 00's. The 'Ladyboys' moniker may have been overblown but there was some truth to it. They could get bullied in the matches that really mattered.

The European Cup in 2006 is the perfect example of this. In the quarter final we played some of the best running rugby I've ever seen to beat Toulouse away. But both teams played like defence was optional. In the semi final against Munster they dominated us.

It took the appointment of Cheika, a new generation of forwards in Heaslip, Healy and a bit later SOB, as well as returning players in Cullen and Jennings, to turn things around.

tvpc · 08-04-2022 6:53pm

Always felt like he was pissing against the wind

awec · 08-04-2022 6:53pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118898759#Comment_118898759

I suspect it's rare because it's a combination that the human body struggles to tolerate.

Ferris was the same.

tvpc · 08-04-2022 6:58pm

a lot of pissed off fans rn

Dubinusa · 08-04-2022 7:18pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118899843#Comment_118899843

Ferris was a talent too, exceptionally powerful.

But, the new kids coming up are very good. I think there's more talent but S O.B was a stallion.

jimdemp · 09-04-2022 1:03am

even conor mcgregor wouldnt piss on someone

[Deleted User] · 09-04-2022 1:06am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118899722#Comment_118899722

Is that a piss take?!

sydthebeat · 09-04-2022 1:16am

https://youtu.be/XVUHFFUvjKk

Not called a Tank for nothing

tooka · 09-04-2022 1:48am

Great player just a pity about that serious incident, real scum behaviour by him

But a great player, one of our best, 2015 WC qf he was a big loss.

the rugby Ireland are playing now would suit him down to the ground.

jimdemp · 09-04-2022 12:43pm

he literarily went to the toilet on someone in public

Mysterypunter · 09-04-2022 12:46pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118902418#Comment_118902418

I don’t follow rugby much, but 2 things sprang to mind when I heard of this dude retiring, one was what a scumbag and the other was is he retiring from pissing or rugby? Glad to see he has been called out again for this as opposed to the hero worship of Tiger Woods in the golf thread

Dial Hard · 09-04-2022 12:49pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118902418#Comment_118902418

He was reading at the time?

You're shouting into the void here. A lot of the time people can't or simply don't want to consider that people they admire can be downright unpleasant human beings. Mike Tyson bit a man's ear off and is a convicted rapist and he's still seen as a hero by many.

Other people are able to separate "the art from the artist", as it were, and can admire someone's achievements while accepting that they're a dickhead.

Either way, you repeating yourself constantly isn't going to change anyone's mind.

jimdemp · 09-04-2022 12:51pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118902446#Comment_118902446

You might say im pissing against the wind

joseywhales · 09-04-2022 1:27pm

If the worst thing I ever do in my life is take a piss on someone, it'll be a good innings. You'd swear he hit a woman or went drink driving or something, your moral compass is out of whack.

Anyway, fair play to him, still helping out with the minis and committing his time to grass roots rugby which is more than most. Thank God we are all allowed to make mistakes from time to time.

AbusesToilets · 09-04-2022 1:53pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118901534#Comment_118901534

lovely bit of niggle after too, holding down all 3 french players.

Sean O'Brien Announces Retirement

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