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'Time's right to move back home': O'Brien becomes a Leinster coach
By Liam Heagney
Recently retired Sean O’Brien has finally made up his mind and confirmed his next move will be joining Leinster as their new contact skills coach. It was just May 19, ahead of his final outing as a London Irish player, when the ex-Ireland and Lions back-rower suggested to RugbyPass that a definite decision on what he would do next had still to be finalised.
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However, with Leinster unveiling the exit on Wednesday of assistant Denis Leamy to Munster, O’Brien, who was in Marseille for last weekend’s Heineken Champions Cup final as a European rugby ambassador, has now confirmed he will be returning to Dublin from London to fill the vacancy on Leo Cullen’s staff.
“There are a few things and a few bits and pieces that I need to chat through again over the next couple of weeks and kind of set it up in stone before anything is announced. I’ll look forward to doing that when the time is right,” explained O’Brien to RugbyPass two days before he hung up his boots with the May 21 defeat for London Irish at Bath.
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“I’m open to every conversation at the minute. As I said, there have been a lot of conversations and I suppose I will have to make decisions very soon on what I want to do and where I want to go and how best it suits me from a learning perspective and my development, whether it be coaching or whether it be in business. There is nothing set in stone yet but I’m definitely going to make a decision in the next week or so.”
That decision has now been taken by O’Brien and Leinster boss Cullen said: “It’s great to be able to welcome Sean back home to Leinster. On the rugby pitch, Sean at his best was virtually unplayable and he was an amazing contributor to Leinster, Ireland and the Lions.
“In a Leinster shirt, he played a key role in some of our greatest days on the European stage and we hope he can pass on some of his vast experience and winning mentality to our current squad. I know that Sean has always been a keen student of the game and has been heavily involved with coaching in Tullow RFC going back to his early playing days.
“We believe he has a very bright future in coaching and it’s a win-win for both sides to have him back here. In addition to his experience, Sean has always been a brilliant presence in the Leinster changing room and I think our group will be excited and energised by having him back involved.”
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O’Brien added: “I always said that you never know what the future holds and I have taken my time to work out what is next for me. While I have loved my time with London Irish and living in London, the time is right to move back home and this is a brilliant opportunity now to get back and to get back to work with Leinster.
“I’d like to thank Leo for the opportunity and it’s an exciting one. Building on the great work of Hugh Hogan and most recently Denis Leamy, I can’t wait to get stuck in working with players that I already know but there is also some real talent coming through and to be having my first coaching opportunity back home at Leinster, is pretty special.
“They have got a busy week ahead of them with Glasgow to come on Saturday and I’ll be a very keen supporter watching them to the end of the season.”
