Australia Reveal The One Irishman They Are Afraid Of This Weekend

Ireland may be without the likes of Johnny Sexton and Robbie Henshaw this weekend but the return of Sean O’Brien has sent shivers down the Wallaby squad.

The Leinster flanker made his return against Canada a couple of weeks back, and started against New Zealand this past weekend. It was against the All Blacks however, the so called ‘Tullow Tank’ let the rugby world know he was back and better than ever.

O’Brien has endured a difficult period with injury since going off with a hamstring problem against France in the Six Nations, but based on last Saturday’s performance- looks to be back to his very best.

Australian outlet, Fox Sports is wary of the threat he brings:

Flanker Sean O’Brien is Ireland’s answer to David Pocock, a breakdown menace and power runner who can destroy Australia’s plans of claiming a historic slam if allowed to dominate.

The 29-year-old put in an epic performance in last weekend’s 21-9 defeat to the All Blacks, producing a number of turnovers, big tackles and strong runs to be Ireland’s best player.

Michael Hooper tries to tackle Sean O’Brien.

Australian flanker Michael Hooper echoed that sentiment.

“Very impressive player, the times I’ve played him he’s been great,” Hooper said.

“Starting this week we’ll be looking at what he’s been doing in the past few games in more depth and seeing where we can potentially benefit and see where he could hurt us.

“There’s no secret we want to play fast ball and get our ball moving along the field. With players who are good on the ball it’s a team effort in making sure they’re not a nuisance to your attack.

It’s a 1-15 job and has been a focus for us this whole year. It’s about doing what we do really well and then we allow those guys to not have a huge effect on our game.”

Will Sean O’Brien be the difference this weekend? The likes of Micael Hooper and David Pocock might have something to say about that in Dublin.