O’Brien Eager To ‘Stake A Claim’ For Ireland Place

One of twelve uncapped players in the Ireland Men’s summer tour squad, Tommy O’Brien said it was nice to have ‘that pep in your step’ after coming into camp as a BKT United Rugby Championship winner with Leinster.

O’Brien is hoping to cap off his best season yet with Leinster – he recovered from injury to make a total of 12 starts on the wing, including four in knockout matches – by making his Test debut against either Georgia or Portugal in the coming weeks.

Led by interim head coach Paul O’Connell, the Ireland group will depart for Tbilisi on Wednesday ahead of their opening summer Test against the 11th-ranked Georgians on Saturday week (kick-off 9pm local time/6pm Irish time – tickets are available to buy here).

With the tour concluding with a July 12 clash with Portugal in Lisbon (kick-off 7pm – tickets are available to buy here), O’Brien said: “Everyone’s champing at the bit to get some (international) rugby under their belt. Obviously it’s what you dream of as a kid, getting to represent your country.

“There’s twelve of us in here who haven’t done it yet, so fingers crossed now as many of us can get that first cap.

“Obviously we know there’s guys away, ‘Lowey’ (James Lowe) and Mack (Hansen) are away with the Lions so there’s two wingers there for Ireland.

“I want to try to stake a claim and make myself a mainstay in this squad, and try to push on. Obviously there’s this summer tour and then you’ve got November internationals and Six Nations and stuff.

“So, definitely don’t want to be a one-cap wonder. Hopefully this is the start for me now of being in this squad and pushing for places.”