Want a real #seanobrienfact? He has been excluded from the IRB’s list of nominees for the World Player of the Year.
The Carlow man had a stunning year for Ireland but he fails to get a place but he is not alone. No Irish player makes the grade, nor do any players from the Six Nations champions England or South Africa.
In fact, there is only one northern hemisphere player who makes the grade, France’s Thierry Dusautoir, and it is debatable if he is the best player in Marc Lievremont’s side.
The list includes three All Blacks, scrum half Piri Weepu, flanker Jerome Kaino and centre Ma’a Nonu, and even those choices can be queried as Weepu was not even a starter for some of this past year.
The Wallabies get two players on the list, David Pocock and Will Genia, but the list seems deeply flawed to us.
And unless the All Blacks screw up hugely on Sunday, they will probably take this award home too when it is announced the after the final.
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