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‘He’s gutted’ – O’Brien breaks his arm during Ireland’s win over Argentina

SEAN O’BRIEN SUFFERED a broken arm in Ireland’s win over Argentina in Dublin, head coach Joe Schmidt has confirmed.

The Leinster openside took a heavy blow to his right arm while tackling in the first half of Ireland’s 28-17 victory and was replaced by Dan Leavy.

Source: Bryan Keane/INPHO

31-year-old O’Brien was in clear pain as he left the pitch and will now miss the remainder of the November Tests, including next weekend’s clash with the All Blacks, due to his arm injury.

Schmidt confirmed the bad news post-match at the Aviva Stadium and said O’Brien will require surgery. The Ireland head coach is hopeful that the flanker will return to fitness ahead of next year’s Six Nations.

Schmidt will take some comfort from the superb performance of Leavy off the bench but the arm break is cruel luck for O’Brien, who has had a torrid time with injuries in recent years.

O’Brien missed out on Ireland’s success last season as he struggled with hip and shoulder injuries.

“Sean has broken his right arm so he obviously won’t be available for the rest of the series,” said Schmidt.

“He’s gutted, I’m gutted for him, I think the team are. I actually thought he was just getting into his rhythm in the game.

“Talking to him after the game, he’s already thinking about his rehab and about trying to make sure he gets back. He’s got a big target in a year’s time that he wants to get to.

“I think I described him as a stubborn man on Thursday and I think that ability to bounce back, that resilience he has, could still give him a chance of getting back toward the end of the year and then into the Six Nations.”

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