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Sean O'Brien makes impressive London Irish debut despite drubbing
By Online Editors
Sean O'Brien made an impressive and long-awaited debut for London Irish despite his side being on the wrong end of a 39 - 0 drubbing.
In miserable conditions O'Brien was particularly good on the deck, with a total of three turnovers to his name by the end of his 48-minute shift.
O'Brien's debut came after months on the sideline. Last May his former club Leinster revealed that the flanker would undergo surgery on a hip injury.
The injury ruled O’Brien out of the Rugby World Cup in Japan. London Irish were reported to have signed the veteran forward on £450,000 per season.
The 33-year-old was one of Leinster’s most decorated players, having come through the Leinster Academy system and having played 122 times for Leinster since his debut in September 2008 against the Cardiff Blues.
The Exiles remain in eighth place and their director of rugby Declan Kidney believes it was a steep learning curve for his players.
“We have a lot of younger lads who need to learn to play these types of games,” Kidney said. “Once we learn, it will put us in a better position.
“Everybody will look at the last 10 or 15 minutes when the scoreline got well away from us, but I’m taking a closer look at the first 50 because, if you get that right, that last 20 becomes a totally different game.
“Sale play a good game of rugby and you have to learn to play the different styles. Sale are able to play that way, that’s why they’re going so well, and we must learn to play against sides that play that type of game. It’s doable but you have to be on the money.”
No doubt the addition of a fit Sean O'Brien will aid Kidney's endeavors.
- RugbyPass/Additonal reporting Press Association
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was I right to infer that you assumed a 1:1 correspondence between points and places?
If so why were you so evasive about admitting that?
I've typed out a reply regarding the pool format but I won't send it if you don't answer my question.
Go to commentsFoster should never have been appointed, and I never liked him as a coach, but the hysteria over his coaching and Sam Cane as a player was grounded in prejudice rather than fact.
The New Zealand Rugby public were blinded by their dislike of Foster to the point of idiocy.
Anything the All Blacks did that was good was attributed to Ryan and Schmidt and Fozzie had nothing to do with it.
Any losses were solely blamed on Foster and Cane.
Foster did develop new talent and kept all the main trophies except the World Cup.
His successor kept the core of his team as well as picking Cane despite him leaving for overseas because he saw the irreplaceable value in him.
Razor will take the ABs to the next level, I have full confidence in that.
He should have been appointed in 2020.
But he wasn’t. And the guy who was has never been treated fairly.
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