Parting such sweet sorrow
The Ireland-France game is his last on native soil as manager of the national side, and while he has enjoyed his five years at the helm, he appreciates it is time, at 66, and with the team doing so well, to stand down.
At the end of the season, he’ll settle back to life in Ballyclough, Limerick, with his wife Olive and family, and will reflect on a term that saw dark days at the outset replaced by some sparkling occasions in latter years.
Certainly, the first few months in the job were far from the all-singing, all-dancing times that he, Eddie O’Sullivan and their squad have enjoyed in recent times. He took up the job in 2000 on the day after his Munster team lost by an agonising point to Northampton in the Heineken Cup final. Within 24 hours, his new Irish squad took part in a warm-up match at Thomond Park before heading off for Argentina, the US and Canada. What happened then hardly augured well for the journey that lay ahead.
“We had six injuries in that game,” he recalls ruefully. “Still, it was a very happy tour. We lost narrowly in Argentina, beat the States and drew with Canada. A number of guys tasted the international stuff for the first time, like Marcus Horan, and they’re still there because they were able to raise their game after representing their provinces in the European Cup.
“The European Cup has a lot to do with the popularity of this Irish side. It has made them more battle-hardened and raised their expectations. That’s why we’re so strong.”
Warren Gatland and Keith Wood were coach and captain respectively in that era and it was a case of more losses than victories. But O’Brien remained in situ through the highly controversial sacking of Gatland and the introduction of Eddie O’Sullivan. Just as he got on very well with the New Zealander, he quickly grew to admire O’Sullivan’s knowledge, commitment and work ethos to the point where there are few in the game for whom he has greater respect.
The high point, of course, should have been the Grand Slam game at Lansdowne two years ago, an occasion that had the country on the edge of their seats. However, O’Brien, O’Sullivan and co learnt from that humbling 42-6 defeat, readily acknowledging that no team could have lived with England that day.
“We never got into it but they were a great side,” says O’Brien. “I would contend that they never played as well again, not even when they won the World Cup. They won the World Cup by the skin of their teeth so there were a lot of gremlins in their game. When they came to us, there were no gremlins. They maximised their potential that day.”
Even as humiliation was piled on humiliation, O’Brien is quick to stress that Ireland never gave up trying. The same level of effort has been a benchmark of the side in Eddie O’Sullivan’s reign as coach and has been rewarded with more wins than losses. And chief among them was the revenge exacted over England 12 months later.
“Beating England at Twickenham means so much to all Irish people, it’s a huge boost,” says Brian. “I played in Twickenham in 1968, one of the Hiller games as they were called, because he kicked a penalty from halfway in the last minute to make it 6-6. The bottom fell out of our world at the time. France beat us that year because Ken Kennedy, our hooker, and second-row Mick Molloy, were both injured and had to go off and there were no subs at the time. I also played against Scotland when we won and had to cry off against Wales, another win, so were it not for Hiller’s penalty, we would have won the Triple Crown!
“It’s very similar to the trend now. Munster were doing very well. Tommy Kiernan made his mark, brought a bit of seriousness into the thing. They were different times. I remember my first game for Munster, it was the 1961-62 season and Woody’s father (Gordon) was captain. The day before Munster went to Dublin to play Leinster, Willie ‘Whack’ Gleeson, our Shannon team secretary, bumped into me and said, ‘Briano, you’re on’ and I hardly knew what he was talking about. Jerry Walsh had cried off and I was in. It’s a far cry from that kind of thing today.
“Getting back to the international scene, winning in Paris is a great boost to the guys closely involved because it is some trick to do so. The French on their home ground are a fantastic side. But they travel poorly. It’s inherent in their game. Bourgoin, say, go to Toulouse and they don’t bother about it, waiting instead to beat the stuffing out of them at home. It’s difficult, almost impossible, to know which France will turn up tomorrow but we’ll be ready and expect it to be a very serious test.”
O’Brien’s playing days ended in 1970 and since then his influence on Shannon, Munster and Ireland has been considerable, he has also helped to select a myriad of teams, including the Lions. He is now happy to call it a day, insisting: “The time to get out is when things are strong, so you put in a new man and there’s continuity. If you want to win with a team, you’ve got to have the guys respecting one another and the one thing that brings respect is team selection. If the guys believe the team is selected fairly, they’re with you. This Irish team accept each other for what they are. There’s a fantastic spirit and without it, you’re in trouble.”
Words of wisdom from a gentleman who has done great things for Irish rugby at every level.
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