The Big Interview with Seán O'Brien: ‘I’m in a better place now than I was three years ago’

Seán O’Brien has gone through physical pain and the hurt of his parents' break-up but he’s out the other side and targeting fresh goals — like the Lions in South Africa next year

Seán O’Brien: ‘I was 12 when my parents were breaking up and I was about 27 when I first went to a psychologist to get my head around it and get to the root of the problem. I had felt all alone.’ Picture: INPHO/Dan Sheridan

Although with a book out he’s been doing a lot of looking back, Seán O’Brien is also doing a lot of looking forward.

Today he’ll be holed up in an apartment in London rather than a team hotel in Paris, having, by the look of it, opted to end his international career and go into self-imposed exile when choosing to sign with the Exiles under Declan Kidney — but be careful how you use the word ‘former’ around him.