Oct 25,2024
Seán O'Brien has been racking up the airmiles this season.
The versatile Munster back is approaching the end of his second trip to South Africa in the space of a month, having been in Bloemfontein with Emerging Ireland in late September, before making a return trip to Cape Town and now Durban for Munster’s two-game tour in the BKT United Rugby Championship.
While Alex Kendellen, Ethan Coughlan, Evan O’Connell and Ben O’Connor all stayed behind in South Africa following that Emerging Ireland tour, as they waited for their Munster team-mates to join them the following week, O’Brien made a short trip home to help ease his side’s injury list, starting against Leinster at Croke Park, before hopping on a plane for Cape Town a few days later.
"I loved it. It was good to get up into the Irish setup," O’Brien says of that stint with Simon Easterby’s development side in Bloemfontein.
The Mullingar native started the first two of those games on tour before being released back to his province.
And the former Ireland U20 international says it was invaluable to get face-time with some of the Irish coaches, particularly to get an insight into how Ireland defend under Simon Easterby.
"It’s obviously quite a while since I’ve played 20s [in 2018], so it was good to get back into an Irish camp and get familiar with how the squad does things, get to know the coaches, and have them get to know me.
"I suppose from a defensive point of view, it was probably a little bit more aggressive than our system [at Munster], where obviously [we have] that line speed defence as well, the same as the Irish team.
"But probably for the outside backs, just being a little bit more aggressive and getting up into that space outside a bit quicker. Little things like that, but systems-wise it is very similar, but you are obviously picking up different nuggets of wisdom from the different coaches."
The way he was utilised on that tour broadly matched how he’s been used at Munster for the last 12 months.
The former Connacht man joined the province in the summer of 2023 having played all of his professional rugby in the centre, but Munster’s injury crisis early last season meant he was deployed on the wing for large parts of last season.
In the final third of last season he was brought back infield to the 12 and 13 shirts, and has continued to bounce between the centre and wing this season, both for province and Emerging Ireland.
"At the end of the day, I’m a rugby player so when I’m out on the pitch you know what you have to do, whether you’re jumping between 12, 13, wing, a couple of things change but for the most part you’re just going out playing rugby.
"I definitely feel comfortable hopping between the two, it’s been a few games this year where I’ve started in the centre and moved to the wing, or vice versa, and it doesn't take a huge pile of adjusting.
"There’s a few things you need to focus on when you're playing on the wing, in terms of kicking and back-field, same goes the other way. I’m fairly comfortable now because I’ve done it a good bit for the past year and a bit. Once I’m out on the pitch playing rugby, that’s the main thing I’m focusing on.
"It’s helped my game as a whole, hopping between the two. It gives you a good perspective on things. Overall, it’s been a good thing, I’ve enjoyed playing on the wing although I’m definitely at home in the centre," he added.
The province suffered a rare defeat in South Africa, with their 34-19 loss to the Stormers in Cape Town ending a run of five games unbeaten down in the southern hemisphere.
They face a daunting challenge on Saturday in Durban, taking on a Sharks side that is loaded with Springboks talent, including Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi, Makazole Mapimp and Lukhanyo Am.
In each of the last two seasons, Munster’s trips to South Africa have acted as a springboard for a big run late in the season, and O’Brien is confident that they can build on what happens as they reach the one-third mark of the current campaign.
"The South African trips are massive. They really galvanise you as a squad and I know the last couple of years, the South African trips have given Munster a kick-start to the season.
"Coming home from them, we have gone on good runs. You do feel quite tight as a squad when you are away on tour.
"All the lads here get on well, so we are not getting in each other’s way or things like that. Everybody seems quite happy out here. The bit of sun always helps."
