London Irish-bound Sean O'Brien shares post-op update

When Sean O’Brien was ruled out of the World Cup in May, many London Irish fans starting to fear the worst about their signing from Leinster for next season. 

The flanker has been dogged by injuries over the past decade, meaning he only earned 56 caps for Ireland since 2009. This is surprisingly low for a player that has consistently been one of the best loose forwards in the world. 

The World Cup in Japan was expected to be his swansong for Ireland before he moved to London Irish for the 2019/20 campaign, but a hip injury put an end to that. 

As this was the latest in a catalogue of injuries, Exiles fans started to doubt whether he would ever play for them, as retirement seemed an increasing possibility for the 32-year-old. 

However, O’Brien has given an update on Instagram on his health after surgery on his hip and he has said that he “couldn’t be happier the way hip feels”. 

"https://www.london-irish.com/news/sean-obrien-injury/bp2186/">landmark signings for Declan Kidney and Les Kiss ahead of next season and they will be delighted that he looks set to return to full health.

The possibility of losing O'Brien due to retirement would have been a grave management concern, as it was for a number of fans. 

Irish have also signed some other big names such as the All Blacks’ Waisake Naholo and the Wallabies’ Nick Phipps, Adam Coleman and Sekope Kepu as they seek to make an impact in their first season back in the Gallagher Premiership. 

WATCH: Assistant coach Simon Easterby provides an update on how Ireland’s World Cup preparations are going