Wales, then Toulon. Seán O’Brien and defeat sit uncomfortably in the same room. His frustrations were audible on Wayne Barnes’s microphone in Cardiff during the Six Nations and Sunday in Marseille proved no different as the same referee adjudicated the breakdown.
It was an area where Steffon Armitage looked to be the dominant force; the wonder is how the damage inflicted by Toulon’s openside can prove of benefit to Leinster in Ravenhill.
“I don’t think Ulster are as illegal as he is,” claimed O’Brien.
“Looking back on the video, there were a couple of rucks that we were half a second late to and we gave the referee an opportunity to see different things.
“We can learn from that and move on very quickly. The breakdown is massive, it’s a big focus for players and Ulster throw a lot of numbers into the ruck, the likes of Chris [Henry] and Rory [Best].
“They cause havoc by staying in there and we’ll be looking to get them out of there as quickly as possible.”
The illegality of Armitage’s action over the ball needs further explaining. Basically O’Brien believes the exiled English flanker supports his own body weight to seal off the ball.
“Arms on the ground probably is one of the things he uses a lot. He’s short and even looking back on the video, the picture the referee sees is a good one in his vision, but when you slow it down and look at exactly what he does, it is illegal.”
There were two clear occasions when Armitage secured a Toulon penalty over a Leinster tackler. The first came moments after he replaced the injured Juan Smith. O'Brien was the man in possession. The steal in the 50th minute seemed nothing short of impossible. Maybe, O'Brien notes, it should have been.
Other foot
“But if the shoe was on the other foot, you wouldn’t be giving out either. He got pinged for a few too, he got away with others. That’s the way it goes. We need to take the referee out of the equation and deal with things the best we can.”
And anyway O’Brien says Barnes isn’t open to feedback.
Ireland coach Joe Schmidt expressed similar, albeit more diplomatic and specific, frustration with the Englishman about how he refereed Jack McGrath's scrummaging against Wales. Also, a clearly disgusted Paul O'Connell refused to be drawn on two late decisions at the scrum and maul that ultimately extinguished dreams of a Grand Slam.
That issue will run as Barnes will probably take the field with Ireland in September or October. Munster's John Lacey will referee Friday's game.
O’Brien is eager to plough on. “That’s what we have to do. We’re fighting for our lives. We have to give ourselves the best possible chance at the end of these games. It starts this week. Everybody is aware of that. We’re not hiding from that or glossing over it. We’re in this position now. We’ve let a few games slip during the year which we shouldn’t have and we’re going to have to find our way out of it.”
Opposite number
Having played only four Six Nations matches and three Leinster games this season, he needs these last three Pro12 outings as much as opposite number
Chris Henry
. The five-day turnaround, he feels, is irrelevant.
“There wasn’t that massive intensity that you normally get in a big game like that, which produces so much speed. It was very stop start. The body is feeling good.”
The ground war this time will be with Henry in Belfast, the man who filled O’Brien’s seven jersey last season and is equally keen to build up his pitch time before World Cup preparations enter hibernation mode.
“Chris is one of those players who will be involved in everything.
“He’s good around the tackle area, he stays in the middle of the ruck the whole time.
“He’s a massive threat. It’s great to see him back and it’s another option for Ireland leading into a World Cup year. I’d say Ulster are delighted to have him too.”
O’Brien’s seems quietly pleased with the opportunity to reinforce his dominance in the position.
