O’Brien watched Slam triumph in Carlow pub

Sean O’Brien was in a pub in Carlow when Ireland claimed the Grand Slam.

Just himself, his best pal and a group of about 10 others. Real quiet. Low key. Given the circumstances, it was about as good as it was going to get for a man who, for all the highs, has had to absorb his fair share of blows.

Talk of a possible return from injury had been stitched through the Six Nations as he recovered from a hip injury suffered back in December. Then disaster struck less than two minutes into his comeback, against Scarlets, the week before Twickenham.