hugonaut wrote:
I see three reasons why Schmidt would pick O'Brien: 1] he has performed brilliantly for him in the past; 2] O'Brien now owes the coach big performances because of Schmidt's faith in him [similar to RK in Chicago]; and 3] O'Brien provides the same positional cover off the bench as Jordi Murphy but has the added benefit of having one of the biggest reps in world rugby. The guy has been legitimately one of the best players in the world.
Of course there are reasons but I don't think they stack up.
You could have said the same thing in November, but he didn't justify selection in his brief appearance, he's been injured since then, and it's now even longer since he played well. I know he wasn't bad against Argentina, but I thought it showed that he should have got up to speed with Leinster first, the difference when Leavy came on was huge.
I suppose selection in the training squad doesn't mean that he'll be in the 23 in the first couple of games, I'd certainly have Jordi ahead of him for the bench spot and would say that seeing how he does for Leinster and then maybe selecting him later in the tournament would be fair enough.