Kevin O'Brien (born 1955) is a former rugby union international who represented

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

from 1980 to 1981.Kevin O'Brien Profile on scrum.com
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Early life

O'Brien was born on 5 June 1955 in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

Rugby union career

O'Brien played club rugby for Broughton Park and made his international debut on 19 January 1980 at

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

in the

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match that was won by England 24-9. He later toured South Africa with Ireland in 1981. He came on against South Africa as a reserve in the 23-15 loss at

Newlands Stadium The Newlands Stadium is located in Cape Town, South Africa. The stadium has a capacity of 51,900 people, but is not an all-seater venue. Various sports teams used the stadium as their home base, including: * Stormers in Super Rugby * Wester ...

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. He was selected to start against South Africa in

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

Kings Park Stadium Kings Park Stadium (known as Hollywoodbets Kings Park for sponsorship reasons since 2022), colloquially known as the Shark Tank, is a stadium located in the Kings Park Sporting Precinct in Durban, South Africa. The stadium was originally built ...

. In that final match O'Brien scored a try, but Ireland narrowly lost 12 points to 10. He was a member of the famous North team which beat the All Blacks at Otley on 17 November 1979. He was one of four Broughton Park players in this side and was joined by teammates

Tony Neary {{Infobox rugby biography , name = Tony Neary , image = , caption = , birth_name = Anthony Neary , birth_date = {{birth date and age, 1948, 11, 25, df=y , birth_place = Manchester, Lancashire, Eng ...

, Tony Bond in the centre and Jim Sydall in the second row.NOWIRUL(E) TIMES ISSUE NO. 1
He also played for a

World XV A World XV (or World 15) is a rugby union team organised on an unofficial, ''ad hoc'' basis and typically composed of invited players from various countries. Several World XVs have been arranged by various bodies since the 1970s, often to take pa ...

on 9 August 1980 against in Buenos Aires, losing 36-22.Player list for World XV
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References

1955 births Irish rugby union players Ireland international rugby union players Rugby union fullbacks Living people Lancashire County RFU players {{Ireland-rugbyunion-bio-stub