OTommy 'Brien investing in himself as he chases Irish dream

All Tommy O'Brien wants for Christmas is a bit of luck.

The 26-year-old is likely to be named in Leinster’s team for Saturday’s BKT United Rugby Championship meeting with Connacht at Aviva Stadium, a game which he hopes can kick-start his season.

The Blackrock man hasn’t had much luck with injuries in his career to date, but after scoring four tries in 11 appearances last season, it looked like he had finally caught a break in September, when he was picked in Simon Easterby’s Emerging Ireland squad.

Finally, it was a chance to get some face time with the Ireland coaches, but that excitement lasted just a couple of days, when he tore his hamstring in the process of scoring a try, just 17 minutes into Leinster’s season-opener away to Edinburgh.

"The infamous hamstring, unfortunately I’ve had a few over the years but took a decent amount of time there, and hopefully we’ve figured a few things out to resolve it," he told RTÉ Sport ahead of his return to action this week.

"I thought I was off to South Africa for the next few weeks and I’m back at home, rehabbing and icing.

"It goes from being an exciting few weeks to not so much. I guess it’s in the past now. I guess when it first happens, it’s pretty bleak but when after that you’re on the road to recovery."

If there is a small consolation, O’Brien does take confidence in the fact that he was on the radar of the Ireland coaches.

And having seen how quickly things happened for his team-mate Gus McCarthy this year, the versatile back remains confident he can catch Easterby’s eye with a run of games.

"It’s amazing, Gus at the end of last year was probably fifth choice hooker and then plays a couple games, plays fantastically for Leinster and gets rewarded with going into the Ireland