Seán Kevin O'Brien (born 14 February 1987) is an Irish retired professional

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 ...

player. He previously represented home province

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 ...

for eleven seasons. At Leinster, he helped the team win four European titles, and was named ERC European Player of the Year for the 2010–11 season, he then played three seasons for English

Premiership Rugby Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby ...

side

London Irish London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club that most recently competed in the Premiership Rugby, Premiership, the top division of rugby union in England. The club also participated in the European Rugby Champions Cup, European Champion ...

. Internationally, he played for

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 ...

for ten years, and toured twice with the

British & Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England national rugby union team, England, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland, Scotland national rugby union team, Scotland, and ...

in 2013 and 2017. O'Brien could play across the back-row, though he primarily played as an

openside flanker Flanker is a position in the sport of rugby union. Each team of 15 players includes two flankers, who play in the forwards, and are generally classified as either blindside or openside flankers, numbers 6 and 7 respectively. The name comes from ...

. He announced his retirement from rugby in 2022.

Professional career

Leinster

O’Brien made his Leinster debut against

Cardiff Blues Cardiff Rugby () are one of the four professional Welsh rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff, the team play at Cardiff Arms Park. Originally formed in 1876, from 2003 to 2021 the first team was known as the Cardiff Blues before rebranding back ...

in September 2008 in the

Celtic League The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organization, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places pa ...

. He made his

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

debut against

Castres Olympique Castres Olympique (, ) is a French rugby union club located in the Occitanian city of Castres and is currently competing in the Top 14, the top level of the French league system. Founded in 1898, the club took its current name in 1906. They pla ...

in December 2008. He did not feature for Leinster in the

2009 Heineken Cup Final The 2009 Heineken Cup Final was the final match of the 2008–09 Heineken Cup, the 14th season of Europe's top club rugby union competition. The match was played on 23 May 2009 at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh; this was the second time that the ...

, but evidence of O’Brien's emergence as one of the most exciting young back-row forwards in Europe came in the form of strong interest from France before Christmas of 2010. The Irish Rugby Football Union moved quickly and O’Brien agreed a new three-year deal with Leinster the following January. O'Brien was in outstanding form for Leinster during the pool stages of the

2010–11 Heineken Cup The 2010–11 Heineken Cup was the 16th season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. It started with three matches on 8 October 2010 and ended on 21 May 2011 w ...

, and was an integral part of the team that beat

Northampton Saints Northampton Saints (officially Northampton Rugby Football Club) is a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The club plays in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby union. It was formed in 1880 as "Northampton St. ...

to win the

2011 Heineken Cup Final The 2011 Heineken Cup Final was the final match of the 2010–11 Heineken Cup, the 16th season of Europe's top club rugby union competition. The match was played on 21 May 2011 at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. The match was contested by N ...

. In 2012 O'Brien helped Leinster win the 2012 Heineken Cup Final, scoring a try as Leinster beat

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

. In January 2014, O'Brien signed a new two-year deal with Leinster. On 21 December 2015, O'Brien signed a new three-year contract with Leinster.

London Irish

O'Brien joined English Premiership side

, where former Ireland head coach

Declan Kidney Declan Kidney (born 20 October 1959) is an Irish rugby union coach. He was the head coach of the Ireland national rugby union team from 2008 to 2013, where he won the 2009 Six Nations with a Grand Slam, winning the 2009 IRB Coach of the Year a ...

and assistant coach

Les Kiss Les Kiss (born 9 December 1964) is an Australian former rugby league coach and player and professional rugby union coach who is the current head coach of Super Rugby Pacific side the Queensland Reds. Prior to this he was head coach of London I ...

are director of rugby and head coach respectively, in December 2019, after the completion of the

2019 Rugby World Cup The 2019 Rugby World Cup () was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening matc ...

. O'Brien made his debut against

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom. Its team play in Premiership Rugby, and have been in England's top division of rugby union continuously since 1995. Originally founded in 1861 as ...

on 6 March 2020. He retired from rugby at the conclusion of the 2021–22 season.

Ireland and British & Irish Lions

In 2007, he was a member of the Ireland Under-20 Grand Slam winning squad. O'Brien was called up to the Ireland team for the 2009 November Tests, and he gained his first cap when he came on as a substitute against

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

at the

RDS Arena RDS Arena is a multi-purpose sports stadium, owned by the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) and located in the Dublin suburb of Ballsbridge, Ireland. The arena was developed to host equestrian events, primarily the annual Dublin Horse Show, which wa ...

on 21 November 2009. He also came on as a replacement against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in a 15–10 win on 28 November 2009. He came off the bench against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in the

2010 Six Nations Championship The 2010 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2010 RBS 6 Nations due to sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 11th series of the Six Nations Championship and the 116th international championship, an annual rugby union competition b ...

, but was dropped afterwards. He was injured during Ireland's 2010 Summer Tests, but won his first start against

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

in the 2010 Autumn Tests, though he did not feature in any other games. O'Brien started every game for Ireland during the

2011 Six Nations The 2011 Six Nations Championship, known as the 2011 RBS 6 Nations due to sponsorship by the Royal Bank of Scotland, was the 12th series of the Six Nations Championship, and the 117th edition of the international championship. The annual rugby uni ...

, winning the Man of the Match award against

. He came third in the 2011 Six Nations Player of the Championship losing out to the winner Andrea Masi. He was selected in Ireland's final 30-man squad for the

2011 Rugby World Cup The 2011 Rugby World Cup, was the seventh Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition inaugurated in 1987. The World Rugby, International Rugby Board (IRB) selected New Zealand as the host country in preference to Japa ...

in New Zealand. O'Brien started against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

during Ireland's World Cup campaign, scoring a try against Russia and winning the Man-of-the-Match award against Italy. O’Brien was ranked among the five best players at the 2011 World Cup, due in significant part to his standout performance against Australia where he led the team in both tackles and runs. O’Brien did not play for Ireland during 2014 due lingering problems from a shoulder injury. In the final

2015 Rugby World Cup Pool D Pool D of the 2015 Rugby World Cup began on 19 September and was completed on 11 October 2015. The pool was composed of France national rugby union team, France (the 2011 Rugby World Cup, 2011 runners-up), Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland ...

match, O'Brien punched Pascal Papé in the first minute of the win over France. The incident went unnoticed by the match officials, and O'Brien later was named man of the match. The win earned

top pool placement, and a quarter-final against

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. O'Brien was later cited by

World Rugby World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competit ...

, and received a one-game ban (reduced from the recommended minimum of two for mitigating factors including an "exemplary disciplinary record"), meaning he was unable to play in the quarter-final. O’Brien last played for Ireland in the 2019 Six Nations. He missed the

due to a hip injury. After joining London Irish in 2020 O'Brien said that he would love to play for Ireland again but he is aware of the unwritten rule in Irish rugby regarding players based overseas not being selected for the national team and he doesn't see this being any different for himself.

Awards

O'Brien was named 2010–2011 ERC European Player of the Year following a season where Leinster were

champions. He was one of five players shortlisted from the 24 Heineken Cup and 20 Amlin Challenge Cup teams that included Leinster teammates

Jamie Heaslip James Heaslip (born 15 December 1983) is an Irish people, Irish former rugby union player who represented Leinster Rugby, Leinster, Ireland national rugby union team, Ireland and the British & Irish Lions. He played as a Number 8 (rugby union), ...

and

Isa Nacewa Isakeli "Isa" Nacewa (born 22 July 1982) is a former rugby union player and coach. Born in New Zealand of Fijian descent, he represented the Fiji national rugby union team, Fiji national team, winning one cap in 2003. Nacewa was a utility back ...

. O’Brien was ranked by the IRB among the five best players at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. O'Brien was awarded the 2011 Guinness/Rugby Writers of Ireland player of the year and received his award at a function in the

Aviva Stadium Aviva Stadium, also known as Lansdowne Road (, ) or Dublin Arena (during UEFA competitions), is a List of stadiums in Ireland by capacity, sports stadium located in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, with a capacity for 51,711 spectators ...

, Dublin.

Personal life

In September 2014, he bought Bellamy's Pub in

Ballsbridge Ballsbridge () (from historic Ball's Bridge) is an affluent neighbourhood of the city of Dublin, the capital of Ireland. The area is largely situated north and west of a three-arch stone bridge across the River Dodder, on the south side of the ...

with Leinster teammates

Rob Kearney Robert Kearney (born 26 March 1986) is an Irish former rugby union player. He spent 15 years playing for Leinster, before having a six-month stint in Australia where he played for Perth based side Western Force. Kearney also played over a deca ...

, Dave Kearney and

. After an extensive refurbishment, it was reopened as "The Bridge 1859". They have all since opened Blackrock Bar And plan to open a smaller lemon duke restaurant called ‘Little Duke”. Since 2018, O'Brien had been in a relationship with Sarah Rowe. They Broke up in December 2020.

References

External links

IRFU ProfileLeinster ProfilePro14 Profile
* *
London Irish Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:OBrien, Seán 1987 births Living people Rugby union players from County Carlow Irish rugby union players Clontarf FC players University College Dublin R.F.C. players Leinster Rugby players London Irish players Ireland international rugby union players Ireland national rugby union team captains Ireland Wolfhounds international rugby union players British & Irish Lions rugby union players from Ireland Rugby union flankers Rugby union number eights Irish expatriate rugby union players in England People from Tullow 2011 Rugby World Cup players 2015 Rugby World Cup players