Twenty years after he last lined out in the maroon and white of his local side Tullow, former Leinster, Ireland and British and Irish Lions flanker Sean O'Brien returned to action on the opening day of the new Leinster League season.
In what must have been a first the 36-year-old sported the number ten jersey as he played the game in the unfamilar outhalf position.
It was a winning start to the campaign for 'The Tullow Tank' and his teammates at they defeated Suttonians on a scoreline of 33-20 away from home in Division 1A, securing a bonus point victory.
According to the Carlow Nationalist O'Brien was involved in three of his side's five tries on the day as he appeared due to the absence of several members of the squad who had GAA commitments.
Sean O’Brien starts at out-half for @TullowRFC today away to Suttonians
— Nationalist Sport (@Natsport) September 16, 2023
Amongst these was the final pass which allowed Aka Saqasaqaivalu to score an all-important try early in the second half.
In what was an eventful afternoon in his new position, O'Brien found himself in the sinbin for ten minutes midway through the second period for a high tackle on a Suttonians player.
Sean O’Brien sent to the sin bin for a high tackle shortly after Suttonians had pulled a try back, @TullowRFC lead 26-10 after 63 mins
— Nationalist Sport (@Natsport) September 16, 2023
Sean O'Brien speaks after returning to play for Tullow
Having been promoted to Leinster's top tier following a successful 2022/2023 season, O'Brien said afterwards that he and Tullow were still "learning" a lot about the league.
“It’s a tough, tough league and we have a lot of lads who will learn a lot from playing the likes of them (Suttonians) who have a lot of good players at a good level," he told the Carlow Nationalist.
"Even for myself, I’m just learning about this league. It’s different, it’s all new so it’s great for us.
"We got promotion last year and we want to put our best foot forward and make a stab at it."
It has been a busy sporting summer for O'Brien who has also featured for his local GAA side 'The Fighting Cocks' from Ballynunnery in the Carlow GAA Junior A football championship.
In their group stage win last month over Leighlinbridge, O'Brien played full-forward and kicked a score as his side ultimately won by two points.
The Tullow Tank @SeanOBrien1987 played his part in @FightingCocksGF win over @LeighlinGfc in this evenings clash pic.twitter.com/dgjUSljiED
— Carlow GAA (@Carlow_GAA) August 31, 2023
A man of many talents, we will watch with interest how he gets on as the Leinster League season progresses.
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