Conor O'Brien (born 2 February 1996) is an Irish former rugby union player who played for

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

GAA and family

Growing up in

Westmeath County Westmeath (; or simply ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It formed part of the historic Kingdom of ...

, O'Brien played more Gaelic sports than

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

until well into his teens. He represented

hurling Hurling (, ') is an outdoor Team sport, team game of ancient Gaelic culture, Gaelic Irish origin, played by men and women. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goa ...

up to under-16 level, and represented

Gaelic football Gaelic football (; short name '')'', commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA, or football, is an Irish team sport. A form of football, it is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score ...

all the way to Minor level. His father Garrett was captain of the

Offaly County Offaly (; ) is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is named after the ancient Kingdom of Uí Failghe. It was formerly known as King's County, in honour of Philip II of Spain ...

team which won the 1988

All-Ireland Under-21 Football Championship The GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the EirGrid GAA Football Under-20 All-Ireland Championship) is an annual inter-county Gaelic football competition organised by the Gaelic Athletic Association ...

, the only such victory in the county's history. Conor got into rugby by playing youths rugby for

Mullingar RFC Mullingar RFC is a rugby team based in Mullingar, County Westmeath in Ireland. It fields teams in Men's Division 2A of the Leinster League The Leinster League is the second tier of Rugby union, rugby in Leinster Rugby, Leinster, behind the L ...

Early rugby career

Conor took up rugby as an 11 year with Mullingar RFC, he tried out many positions including back-row before finally settling at out-half. Conor was part of the successful Midlands team that won the Shane Horgan Cup in 2012, in the same season he also played out-half in the Mullingar U17 team that won the Culliton Cup scoring two tries in the final against Navan. He was the out-half on the Leinster U18 team that won the interprovincial title in 2012/13 which lead to his selection for Ireland U18 in four matches against Italy, England, Scotland and France. He was selected on both the Leinster U18 and Ireland U18 teams the following season, this time at centre.

Leinster

O'Brien joined the

Leinster Rugby Leinster Rugby () is one of the four professional provincial club rugby union teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the Leinster Branch, one of t ...

academy ahead of the 2016–17 season, during which he also won an All-Ireland League title with Clontarf. O'Brien is currently in his third and final year of the academy. He made his debut early in the 2017–18 season against

Glasgow Warriors The Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and beca ...

, performing well and playing 73 minutes of the match. He made a further two appearances in the 2017–18 season.

Ireland

O'Brien was selected for the Ireland U-20s squad for the

2016 Six Nations Under 20s Championship The 2016 Six Nations Under 20s Championship was a rugby union competition held in February and March 2016. Wales won the tournament, the Triple Crown and the Grand Slam. Final table Results Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Ro ...

, where Ireland finished third. O'Brien then starred as Ireland finished in their best ever position of second at the

2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship The 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Championship was the ninth annual international rugby union competition for Under 20 national teams. The event was organised in England by rugby's governing body, World Rugby. Twelve nations took part in the tourname ...

, during which they also beat the Baby Blacks for the first time.

References

External links

Leinster ProfilePro14 Profile
* 1996 births Living people Clontarf FC players Dublin University Football Club players Irish rugby union players Leinster Rugby players Rugby union centres Rugby union players from Mullingar Rugby union wings {{Ireland-rugbyunion-bio-stub