RUGBY:He has burst on to the scene like a meteorite this season. GERRY THORNLEYasks the Leinster forward why?

NOT ALONE was selecting Seán O’Brien as the standout performer of the European season relatively straightforward and unanimous, but as befits the inaugural winner, he has set quite a benchmark.

In starting all nine of Leinster’s Heineken Cup games, O’Brien played the first four at number six, the next two at eight and the three knockout games at seven, scoring four tries and picking up three man-of-the-match awards, and even before his storming performance in the final, he led the Opta rankings as the tournament’s top-performing attacking and defensive player.

O’Brien had made more carries (115) than any other player, as well as more metres than any other forward. The 24-year-old had also beaten 19 defenders, a competition high by any back or forward, before taking that into the 20s in the final, prior to which only Joe Worsley (90) had made more tackles than O’Brien (84).

The young man from Tullow is, accordingly, the first ever winner of the ERC European Player of the Year, 2011. “I’ll have to sit down and indulge next week,” he quipped, still a little disbelieving, before admitting it was a great honour which reflected as much on the achievements of his Leinster team-mates.

O’Brien informed his family on Monday night. “They just couldn’t believe it. It’s a big deal to me and it’s a big deal to them, and I’m just very happy about it,” he said proudly.

Aware of the slagging that will inevitably face him from team-mates, O’Brien “snuck out nice and handily” after training yesterday. But there’ll be no avoiding it.

“I usually get a good bit of slagging regardless, so it’s not going to change now. Jonny (Sexton) will be trying to turn his attentions elsewhere,” he said.

The story of his and Leinster’s final, when he moved from seven to six for the second half, would appear to confirm that he is more effective at blindside, although he had made tackles and poaches (forcing one of Sexton’s three-pointers) in the first half.

“In the first half I was linking a little bit more and on a couple of loose balls and stuff, but when I’m at six with that freedom I can just get my hands on the ball and start to carry hard. And things started to happen and we started to get a bit of go-forward ball. But I don’t really care where I am on the field, the way we’re playing rugby at the moment,” said O’Brien.

Indeed, with Cian Healy’s important steal off Chris Ashton at the start of the half, and the scrum improving, gradually O’Brien began to make more and more of an impact, bouncing off tackles as he and Leinster wore Northampton down. “That was one of the things I said at half-time, ‘let’s just keep carrying at them, making them tackle and make them get up off the ground and back our fitness’. And that’s exactly what we did.”

Along with the lack of injuries, the manner Leinster have finished running-on strongly throughout the knockout stages, reflects well on strength and conditioning coach Jason Cowman and his staff. “Jason is unbelievable, and this season it’s been completely different, especially with the squad rotation,” said O’Brien, who was starting his 20th game of the season for Leinster (along with six Irish caps), whereas his counterpart, Saints’ skipper Phil Dowson, was starting his 32nd.

He had never played in a game like last Saturday’s final, but while “a bit shocked” by the first half “at the same time – I was thinking about this after – I never once said in my head ‘we’re in trouble here’. I felt we could score at any time in the game and I knew we had opened them up in the first half, and one score could get us back in the game.”

O’Brien has also never known such elation at the full-time whistle. “I sat back on the pitch at one time and thought: ‘My God, I can’t believe we’re after winning this game,’ which was a great feeling.”

The product of Tullow CS, Tullow RFC and the Leinster/Irish Youths’ system is proud of his roots and was given a flag in the Tullow colours (red and white) for the post-match lap of honour. “I am very conscious of staying in contact there,” said O’Brien, who does some coaching with Tullow RFC seniors and Under-21s. He had received a text the day before from Brendan Byrne, a huge Leinster fan, notifying O’Brien of where he’d be with the flag, and whose son, JP, has quadriplegic cerebral palsy and needs constant care. With support from local businesses, family and friends, Brendan, his wife Anisa, JP and his two-year-old sister Ellen, were able to go to Cardiff and maintain JP’s record of never having been at a losing Leinster Heineken Cup game. “I was floating around and was thinking ‘I wonder where that flag is?’ Next minute I saw it and jogged over and they threw it out. Brendan reckons JP is our lucky charm, so it was good that they had the flag there.”

An unused sub in ’09, O’Brien felt he contributed more this time and hence “it did feel much sweeter, and I suppose backing it up by getting two Heineken Cups in three years”. Still, you wonder why his performance levels and career took off this season. “I don’t think there’s much different.

“I suppose Joe gave me a run of games, and I think he probably showed more confidence in me, and I’m in the leadership group as well. The other things is the way we’re trying to play suits me.”

Nor will their drive and determination dim now. “That’s why you play, to win and to win trophies. With the young players coming through, God only knows what we could do in the future.”

Now an historic double beckons with Saturday’s Magners League final, albeit in Munster’s Thomond Park lair.

“It’ll be a massive game. If you’re not up for this one there’s something wrong with you. Any time you go down there you know what you’re going to get.

“They’re going to be massive physically, they’re playing in front of their home crowd, who are passionate.

“They’re a great bunch of lads down there and they won’t want to lose. They’ve been saying they need a trophy to salvage their season and they’re going to be all guns out. The weekend can’t come quick enough.”

THE FACTS

Born: February 14th, 1987, Ardistan, Tullow, Co Carlow

Height: 1.88 m (6' 2")

Weight: 108 kg (16st 13lb)

School: Tullow Community School

Province: Leinster

Clubs: UCD, Tullow

Honours: Irish Under-18s, Youths, Under-20s and 21s.

Ireland Caps: 9 (W7, L2)

Test Debut: v Fiji, Dublin, November 21st, 2009

Leinster caps: 55 (11 tries)

Heineken Cup caps: 18 (5 tries)

THE SHORTLIST

Jamie Heaslip (Leinster)

Isa Nacewa (Leinster)

Seán O'Brien (Leinster)

Sergio Parisse (Stade Francais)

Soane Tonga'uiha (Northampton)

The selection panel of Stuart Barnes (Sky Sports), Jean-Roger Delsaud (Midi Olympique) and Stephen Jones (Sunday Times), Heineken Cup Ambassador,

Raphael Ibanez, and Gerry Thornley ( The Irish Times) selected a shortlist which was presented to the 44 clubs. Their recommendations were factored into the deliberations of the selection panel. The winner was confirmed after all five shortlisted candidates had been seen in action in the two European finals.