Irish Rugby
Ireland face anxious wait over O'Brien
ESPN Staff
June 26, 2012
Ali Williams and Sean O'Brien square off, New Zealand v Ireland, AMI Stadium, Christchurch, New Zealand, June 16, 2012
Sean O'Brien gets to know Ali Williams © Getty Images
Enlarge
Related Links
Players/Officials: Sean O'Brien
Tournaments/Tours: Six Nations
Teams: Ireland

Ireland flanker Sean O'Brien is facing four months out after being forced to undergo surgery on his hip.

O'Brien started all three of Ireland's Tests in New Zealand and shone for Leinster on their route to Heineken Cup glory last term. But he is now a doubt for Ireland's autumn Tests and looks set to miss the first two rounds of next season's Heineken Cup.

Irish team manager Mick Kearney said he was not sure how long the flanker had been suffering from the injury for but he will now go under the knife.

"He is going having some keyhole surgery on his hip to repair some cartilage damage," Kearney told the Irish Examiner. "Surgery is imminent, it's going to happen within the next week or so and the recovery period for this type of operation is 13 to 15 weeks. It means it could be up to four months.

"Obviously it's going to make him doubtful for the November series."

Kearney is confident that the flanker will make a full recovery from the injury. Munster's Denis Leamy was forced to retire from the game back in May due to a hip injury and Leinster's resources in that department will be stretched with both Dave Kearney and Rhys Ruddock also facing the surgeon's knife.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

Live Sports

Communication error please reload the page.

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices