Jimmy O’Brien, the most versatile Irish player around

If he backs up last weekend’s display against Fiji on Saturday he’ll be the player who has made the most strides in the Irish pecking order this month

On Monday, February 21st this year, Stuart Lancaster was holding court with the media in advance of their URC home game against the Lions four days later. Earlier that day, Jimmy O’Brien had been named for the first time in a 38-man Ireland squad prior to the Six Nations third round game against Italy so inevitably Lancaster was asked about his then 25-year-old utility back. As is usually the case, Lancaster’s answer made you pay attention.

“Consistently good would be the phrase I would use. He is consistently good. He is not just consistent,” began Lancaster. “In terms of multi-positional, he is the classic multi-positional outside back. I do run him at 10. I would be happy to play him at 12 or 13. He has played on the wing and obviously he is excellent at 15 as well.

“So, he has got the ability to be a very good all-round footballer. He has obviously got his left boot, he’s fast – he has got proper top end speed and he’s good speed endurance as well. He’s a bit like Hugo (Keenan),” added Lancaster of O’Brien’s one-time Irish Sevens team-mate and good friend.

“You put that package together, bravery, intelligence, and confidence now that has grown over the course of the last three or four years that I coached him,” Leinster’s senior coach continued, noting how O’Brien had come out of his shell as he became a trusted member of the senior squad.

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As to what is O’Brien’s best position, even Lancaster didn’t seem entirely sure.

“Eh, 15. But I’d say the same about Hugo (Keenan) as well to be honest. The advantage with Jimmy is that when you play Jimmy and Hugo together you can almost interchange them anyway.”

Last Saturday that came to pass, which must have been a special day for the two friends and their families.

Yet, coming into this November window O’Brien looked to be behind both Michael Lowry and Jacob Stockdale. Now though, having slipped seamlessly into the outside centre role on his assured debut against the Springboks last weekend, if O’Brien backs up that display with as convincing a performance at fullback, he will be the player who has made the most strides in the Irish pecking order this month.

When it comes to property, it’s said the most important three criteria are location, location and location. Well, when it comes to filling the last few places in a 34-man World Cup squad, similarly versatility, versatility and versatility will be imperative.

However, not only is O’Brien now looking a shoo-in for Ireland’s World Cup squad, but all being well it’s hard to envisage a first-choice match-day 23 without him. As well as being able to do pretty much everything well, there’s arguably no more versatile Irish player around.

Outside centre and fullback are his favoured positions, as they offer more of a playmaking role than being on the wing. In his 48 starts for Leinster to date, five have been on the left wing, with another seven on the right wing, 10 at outside centre and 26 at fullback.

Furthermore, Lancaster regularly runs him at outhalf in training while asking him to cover the position on match days, as has occasionally been the case. O’Brien has also covered scrumhalf should Leinster’s number nine ever be yellow carded.

As well as a skill set which covers all the basics of the game, his degree in Financial Mathematics at UCD clearly helps him cover a multitude of positions and detail.

Last week was a classic case in point. O’Brien had been preparing for the Ireland A game until last Friday, when he was rerouted on to the Ireland bench against South Africa after Robbie Henshaw’s withdrawal.

As somehow invariably seems to happen, when Stuart McCloskey injured his forearm in the 27th minute and O’Brien was thrust into outside centre – a relatively unfamiliar position in recent times. He last started there for Leinster in Parma against Zebre in March 2021, having effectively become a back three back player since then.

His first involvement against the Springboks was to carry over the gain line from Johnny Sexton’s short pass. Two more carries followed, one of which saw him engulfed by Jesse Kriel in trademark style, although O’Brien still presented the ball to retain possession. Then Ireland began using his strong left-footed game with the first of four punts; yet another useful arrow in his quiver.

After the resumption came his contributions to both Irish tries. In the 44th minute, after Mack Hansen had made inroads off Sexton’s inside pass and popped the ball off the deck, O’Brien gathered and used his footwork to straighten and accelerate past Steven Kitshoff’s tackle, requiring two Boks to bring him down 10 metres over the gain line in the attack which led to Ireland’s maul try.

After a 50-metre punt downfield, O’Brien’s contribution to Ireland’s superb second try was to maintain his depth, take Keenan’s pass, straighten and draw Cheslin Kolbe, so preventing him from corner flagging, before firing a perfectly timed right-to-left pass for Hansen. O’Brien made his first try assist in Test rugby look easier than it was.

After latching on to a loose pass by Damian Willemse, which was a South African advantage play in any case, next it was time for some defending. There was a good tackle on Kriel before a vital one to haul down the rampaging Eben Etzebeth by the left ankle and then he scrambled back to make a try-saving tackle on Kolbe.

The Boks would score from the next phase on the opposite flank anyway, and O’Brien’s last notable involvement was to come in off the right wing, having chased the restart, and tackle Damian de Allende. Not a wrong step throughout. All boxes ticked: passing, running, kicking, tackling.

Although Sexton would reveal that O’Brien “told us he was shitting it after the game”, the captain also added: “He came on and was straight into it. He knew what was going on, he knew everything, he just did his role very well. Fair play to him, most people get their first cap in a smaller game, he gets it against the world champions. What an amazing performance from him.”

In the stands last week and again on Saturday will be his extended family and friends, including his parents Caroline and John, who hail from non-rugby territory in Clonmel, although his dad was a long jumper and sprinter. O’Brien and his four siblings were reared in Eadestown, where his uncle Toby Sheridan persuaded O’Brien’s parents to let him try mini-rugby at Naas, so by rights he should be in the Aviva this weekend as well.

Of the many in Naas, Newbridge and Kildare who tracked O’Brien’s abilities and will take pride in his achievements this month will be one of his coaches at Newbridge College, Dave Brew. He oversaw his young pupil morph from a scrumhalf to an outhalf and inside centre – “to free him up” – and along the way become the standard bearer for high achieving Junior and Senior Cup teams in the school.

“It would be great to see him in green at some stage,” he told The Irish Times last May. It’s taken a while, via the Irish Under-20s, the Leinster Academy and Irish 7s, but not only have the days in green finally arrived, they could be here a good while more yet.

Gerry Thornley

Gerry Thornley

Gerry Thornley is Rugby Correspondent of The Irish Times