It was confirmed yesterday that Leinster and Ireland great Sean O’Brien will miss this year’s World Cup but now fans are wondering if he will call time on his career.
O’Brien will undergo surgery on a hip injury he sustained in Leinster’s 20-10 Champions Cup final loss to Saracens which will leave him side-lined for around six months.
That forces him to join Dan Leavy on the injury table for the tournament and also means that his new club London Irish could have reservations about their new recruit.
Having missed both the PRO 14 semi-final and final wins over the past two weeks’ O’Brien’s Leinster career ended unfairly for the Tullow native.
However, O’Brien has been plagued by injuries throughout his glittering career, having over 20 operations that have left him only being capped by Ireland 56 times.
As the RugbyPass image below shows O’Brien has had injuries to every part of his body and at 32 the world can only wonder how much more he can take.
Unfortunately for O’Brien he has been unable to string many games together due to these problems, managing only 10 appearances for the Irish province this season and fans are starting to have their doubts over the flanker’s future.
The thought of an early retirement for one of Ireland’s true warriors is a horrible one but the public census appears to be that he will always be remembered as a legend however, they don’t want him to push himself too far.
There is no doubt that whatever happens O’Brien will go down in the history books as an Ireland legend having picked up a Grand Slam, another two Six Nations titles, four Champions Cups, several league titles, a British & Irish Lions series win over Australia in 2013 and a draw with New Zealand in 2017, along with being named European Player of the Year in 2011.
There are few that have such a sensational CV and hopefully O’Brien can battle through his latest set-back to add to it but with every injury more doubts are cast as to whether this great warrior has fought his last war.
