Munster's Seán O'Brien says he has a new appreciation for his career after his brother's injury-enforced retirement.
The Mullingar native joined Munster from the Exeter Chiefs this season, and is the younger brother of former Leinster centre Conor, who was forced to retire at the the age of 26 just over a year ago due to a persistent hamstring injury.
And Seán, who came through the ranks at Connacht before spending two years at Exeter, says his older brother's injury struggles have put the game into perspective.
"It happened so fast. His was a little bit different, it was a culmination of injuries as opposed to one big one," he says of Conor's retirement.
"Every time he got a big injury, I was like, 'He'll come back from it, and he’ll be back to how he was.’
"And then when he made the decision to retire, I was like, 'Wow, this can happen to anybody’.
"It makes you appreciate playing that little bit more. I don’t take it for granted anyway but that opens your mind to it a little bit more."
O'Brien's move to Munster came as a surprise, with the 25-year-old having been a regular in the Exeter squad since he joined the Premiership side in 2021, starting for the Chiefs in their Champions Cup last-16, quarter-final and semi-final games last season.
The versatile centre says that while his return to Ireland came sooner than he had expected, he jumped at the chance to link up with Munster.
"When the opportunity came up I would have been stupid to say no.
"When I was moving to England I wasn't going with the intention of staying forever. I'd probably planned staying a little longer but when the opportunity to come to a club like Munster pops up you can’t say no," added O'Brien, who won six caps for Ireland U20 in 2018 alongside future Munster teammates Diarmuid Barron, Jack Daly and Jack O'Sullivan.
While he only played one season of senior rugby at Connacht, the Westmeath man had impressed in his 10 appearances in 2020/21 before heading to Exeter.
He's also a rare example in recent seasons of a player who has left the Irish rugby bubble, before returning to a province.
And he's hoping that bit of outside knowledge can prove to be a point of difference.
"I was lucky to play with a lot of world class players over there, so even training with them, playing with them, asking questions, you learn a lot. Obviously in the Premiership you have a lot of different nationalities, it's not just the English.
"It’s a slightly different way of playing rugby so it’s good to learn abroad, learn off different systems, and add little bits to your game. It definitely helped."
Having spent some time injured during pre-season, O'Brien has settled into the first team, and will make his third appearance for the province on Friday when Munster face Ulster at Kingspan Stadium (live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player).
Nearly all of his rugby has come in the centre during his professional career, but he's been used on the wing by Munster in his early appearances, and says it's been a relatively seamless transition given Munster's style of play.
"The first couple of weeks, being injured, made it a bit more difficult, because personally I learn by doing as opposed to watching and listening. That took a little bit of getting used to.
"Mike [Prendergast] is great at pulling you for little chats, telling you what you need to know, and what you need to improve on. He's made my life very easy so far.
"In open play it's quite similar to be honest, the wingers are looking to get off the wings and into midfield, so generally phase play is not too dissimilar. I’m comfortable enough there.
"The only major difference would be high-ball skills, covering the backfield, which I’m more than comfortable with anyway.
"As long as it gets me on the field I’m happy enough."
Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Watch Ulster v Munster in the URC on Friday from 7pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1 Extra
Watch Dragons v Leinster in the URC on Sunday from 1pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player
