FOLLOWING ANOTHER frustrating spell on the sidelines earlier this season, Tommy O’Brien is now hopeful of getting an extended run of games in a Leinster jersey.

After missing the majority of the 2022-23 campaign with an ACL injury — his first appearance of the term was against Emirates Lions in round 17 of the United Rugby Championship — O’Brien initially hit the ground running last season with three tries in as many games.

However, an ankle issue subsequently brought the versatile back’s fourth outing of the season against Dragons to a premature end and while he eventually regained full fitness, he subsequently missed several additional fixtures owing to a hamstring problem.

He had a recurrence of the latter injury in the act of scoring a try away to Edinburgh in the opening round of this season’s URC and it ultimately ruled him out of the Emerging Ireland Tour of South Africa in October.

Yet O’Brien was close to making it back for Leinster’s European Champions Cup clash with Clermont in the Aviva last weekend and is now finally set to return against Connacht at the same venue in the URC tomorrow evening.

“Can’t wait for it, a good Interpro game. I was hoping to maybe get involved last week, but the physio said to get another week of training under the belt. When you’re so close and you have the chance of a European game you’re like, ‘I’ll be fine’, but maybe better these decisions are taken out of your hand,” O’Brien said at a Leinster media briefing earlier this week.

“Definitely my patience has been tested the most in Irish rugby, I reckon. It’s been a rough few years. I get a chance, get a run and I feel like I’m going well and then just get blighted with injuries. Fingers crossed, I’ve got my injury out of the way for the year early and get a good run at it now for the next six months.”

As well as a physical challenge, dealing with lengthy injury lay-offs can present a mental obstacle to players in the professional game. Despite acknowledging the difficulties that come with being on the treatment table, O’Brien is grateful that he has a good support network around him when he does find himself out of action.

“I live with my girlfriend. She’s very good and then obviously my family is rugby-mad as well, but they also know that they’re there to talk whenever I want to talk about it. Then sometimes I just need to be distracted and do something else.

“Generally, when something happens to me I give myself two or three days just to be annoyed and then after that, I get moving on things. I’m a lot better once I have a plan. When I’m just sitting there in limbo and I don’t really know what’s happening, I hate that.

“Once you get an idea whether this is going to be six to eight weeks, ‘this is what we’re going to do, we think this is why it happened, we can mitigate that risk by finding a few little different things here’, then I’m always a lot better.”

When he has been available to him in the past, O’Brien has proven to be a valuable asset to Leinster head coach Leo Cullen — amassing a tally of 11 tries from 36 appearances for the eastern province to date.

He has been noted for his athleticism as well as his finishing ability and this comes as no surprise given he was quite a gifted hurdler during his school days at Blackrock College (he was also a member of the Blackrock and Dundrum South Dublin athletics clubs when he was younger).

Additionally, his sisters Robyn and Emma were also distinguished athletes who often found themselves in direct competition with future Olympian Rhasidat Adeleke.

“They would have been the age above and the age below Rhasidat. They were always racing for second in that. That is their claim to fame! Running against her and being up on the podiums in Leinsters with her. She was always special,” O’Brien added.

“Back in school, I did a good bit of athletics. I did the 110-metre hurdles and the 400-metre hurdles. 400-metre hurdles is no fun, but I did quite well in that. I don’t know was that just because no one else wanted to run the race.

“I ran about second in Leinster and then into the All-Irelands. Floored myself on the first hurdle in the 400 metre hurdles, which was no fun! It’s a bit of a regret and then got back up and ended up coming fourth. Athletics always kind of transferred over a little bit. I always enjoyed it, but I definitely love the team sport element of rugby.”