Seán O'Brien (born 9 December 1994) is a 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 from Ireland. He plays as a

lock Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

and across the back row. O'Brien currently plays for Irish provincial side

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

in the

Pro14 The United Rugby Championship (URC) is an annual rugby union competition involving professional teams from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. For sponsorship reasons the league is known as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship in ...

, after being promoted from the academy ahead of the 2015–16 season.

Early life

O'Brien was born in

Galway Galway ( ; , ) is a City status in Ireland, city in (and the county town of) County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay. It is the most populous settlement in the province of Connacht, the List of settleme ...

and grew up in

Clarinbridge Clarinbridge or Clarenbridge () is a village in south County Galway, Ireland. It is on the mouth of the Clarin River at the end of Dunbulcaun Bay, which is the easternmost part of Galway Bay. The village is 13 km south-east of Galway cit ...

, a village in the county. He was involved with Galwegians from a young age, with his father and grandfather having ties to the club. O'Brien also played

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 ...

with

in his youth. His sister Katie O'Brien is a

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

rower Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars (called blades in the United Kingdom) are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are ...

. O'Brien was a student at the Cistercian College in

Roscrea Roscrea () is a market town in County Tipperary, Ireland. In 2022 it had a population of 5,542. Roscrea is one of the oldest towns in Ireland, having developed around the 7th century monastery of Crónán of Roscrea, Saint Crónán of Roscrea, p ...

, but attended the Calasanctius College in

Oranmore Oranmore ( or ) is a town in County Galway, Ireland, east of Galway city on an inlet of Galway Bay. At the 2022 census, Oranmore had a population of 5,819. The town is in a civil parish of the same name. Etymology Oranmore is the anglicisat ...

for his

Junior Certificate The Junior Cycle () is the first stage of the education programme for post-primary education within the Republic of Ireland. It is overseen by the Department of Education (Ireland), Department of Education and the National Council for Curriculu ...

and fifth year. He returned to Roscrea in his final year to graduate. O'Brien is also a student of

NUI Galway The University of Galway () is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. The university was founded in 1845 as "Queen's College, Galway". It was known as "University College, Galway" (UCG) () from 1908 to 1997 and as ...

, studying civil law.

Rugby career

Connacht

O'Brien entered the Connacht academy ahead of the 2013–14 season. O'Brien played for the province's second tier side, the

Connacht Eagles Connacht Rugby is one of the four professional provincial men's rugby teams from the island of Ireland. Connacht competes in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Connacht Branch, which ...

during the course of the season and was named the province's under-20 player of the season. After an injury ruled O'Brien out of the 2014 Junior World Cup, he failed to make a senior breakthrough in the 2014–15 season. O'Brien returned from injury ahead of the 2015–16 season. He featured for Connacht in their preseason match against

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

, and was made captain of the Eagles side. In November 2015, O'Brien was named in the Connacht squad for a trip to the

Siberian Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states si ...

city of

Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yenisey, Yenisey River, and is the second-largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk, with a p ...

for a 2015–16 Challenge Cup game. He made his senior debut on 14 November in the game against Enisey-STM, coming on after 58 minutes as a replacement for captain John Muldoon. O'Brien made his first league appearance two weeks later in a

2015–16 Pro12 The 2015–16 Pro12 (also known as the ''Guinness Pro12'' for sponsorship reasons) was the fifteenth season of the professional rugby union competition originally known as the Celtic League, and the sixth with its current four-country format. i ...

derby against

Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...

, coming off the bench for Eoghan Masterson as Connacht won at

Thomond Park Thomond Park is a stadium in Limerick in the Irish province of Munster. The stadium is owned by the Munster Rugby and has Shannon RFC and UL Bohemian RFC as tenants. Limerick FC played home games in Thomond Park from 2013 to 2015 in the Le ...

for the first time since 1986. In January 2016 it was announced that O'Brien had signed a senior contract with contract, which sees him become a member of the full squad for the 2016–17 season.

International

O'Brien has represented Ireland at a number of under-age levels. He played for both the under-18 schools team and the under-18 club team. He also played for the under-19 side. O'Brien made his debut for the Irish under-20 team in the

2014 Six Nations Under 20s Championship The 2014 Six Nations Under 20s Championship was a rugby union competition held in January, February and March 2014. France won the tournament and the Grand Slam while England won a Triple Crown. Final table Results Round 1 Round 2 Ro ...

against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. He played in the following game against

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 ...

, but was forced off with an injury early in the game. Despite being named in the initial team, O'Brien missed the next game against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. He returned from his injury in time to face

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 ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and due to the absence of Leister's

Dan Leavy Dan Leavy (born 23 May 1994) is an Irish rugby union former player who played for Leinster Rugby. His preferred position was flanker. Playing career Leavy was enrolled in the Leinster Rugby academy. He debuted with the Leinster senior team in Oc ...

through injury, O'Brien was named captain for these games. He made a total of four appearances in the tournament, all of these coming as starts. In April 2014 the Irish squad for the 2014 Junior World Cup was announced, with O'Brien named captain. O'Brien missed the tournament through injury however, being replaced as captain by Munster's Jack O'Donoghue.

References

External links

Ireland Under-20 Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:OBrien, Sean 1994 births Living people Alumni of the University of Galway Clarinbridge hurlers Connacht Rugby players Galwegians RFC players Irish rugby union players People educated at Cistercian College, Roscrea Rugby union players from County Galway Rugby union locks Rugby union flankers Rugby union number eights People from Clarinbridge 21st-century Irish sportsmen