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'Huge' - London Irish fans' online reaction to O'Brien coup
By Josh Raisey
After London Irish announced the signing of Seán O’Brien, fans took to Twitter to show their joy at this news.
The Leinster back-row will join up with Declan Kidney after the World Cup, in what looks to be London Irish’s return to England’s top flight of rugby.
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O’Brien has consistently been one of the best forwards in world rugby over the past decade and is a huge signing for a London Irish team that are showing a lot of ambition ahead of next season.
Many fans were quick to reiterate the club’s assertion that this is a statement of intent, particularly amongst other signing.
A number of Leinster fans also commented, saying what a wonderful signing O’Brien will be, and how much he will be missed by the Irish province. After all, he has won four European titles with Leinster, as well as being awarded the European Player of the Year in 2011.
Alongside over 50 Ireland caps, and two tours with the British and Irish Lions, this is an indication of the experience that O’Brien will bring to the Gallagher Premiership.
There were some reservations by the Exiles fans regarding the forward’s fitness. O’Brien has been plagued by injury of the past few years, and while he is always immense whenever he plays, it has been a struggle for both Leo Cullen at Leinster and Joe Schmidt with Ireland to keep him healthy. Furthermore, he will be 32 when he arrives, and would have just come from a taxing World Cup in Japan, so it is unclear how much he will be able to give.
The fans were also keen to pick up on Irish’s free-spending approach heading into next season, and are hoping that this is the start of some new announcements. Either way, London Irish clearly want to be a force next season, rather than a team intent on surviving.
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This is what the fans had to say:
https://twitter.com/steve091982/status/1094992270384865281
https://twitter.com/BryanMonument/status/1094991804561276928
https://twitter.com/eretail/status/1094991358148907009
https://twitter.com/joshcharlton96/status/1094990061727350785
https://twitter.com/raj_2406/status/1095006300029759490
https://twitter.com/jamieparry85/status/1095001767853608962
https://twitter.com/Hasher83/status/1094993024424312832
https://twitter.com/RoryNorris/status/1094992465734631424
https://twitter.com/jamesbunyan/status/1095005178590359552
https://twitter.com/CPaddyTierney/status/1094996850279632902
https://twitter.com/GeorgeTheDoor/status/1094995655691587586
Huge signing.
— Stephen Thomas (@Stephen56120020) February 11, 2019
