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Published 13:42 15 Feb 2015 GMT
Updated 20:45 15 Feb 2015 GMT
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The Tullow Tank concedes Ireland missed a couple of gilt-edged scoring chances but was pleased that his teammates kept their calm, and remembered their roles, in the closing stages. The last Test match O'Brien played saw the All Blacks come back to steal victory at the death.
On the closing stages, with France pressing hard for a late try, he recalls, 'You're just getting up and trying to find a blue shirt. Just working and working. That's what it's all about. It's about getting on the line. You're running on adrenaline at that stage - a minute or two to go. We've seen before, in the past, when we've got caught so it's very important to stick to the system and trust each other.'
Still, the flanker sees room for improvement. He said:
'We wanted to go for it [in the final 20] but I don't think our discipline was good enough today. I'm not sure of the penalty count but I thought it was over 10 [it was 11]. That's probably not good enough for the next day [against England]. That put us under pressure a bit, our own discipline, so we couldn't really go after them. We definitely did want to go after them and play rugby. It was a very stop-start, slow game. I don't think it was a good game to watch but the result was there at the end for us.'O'Brien denies the March 1 date with England will decide the Six Nations but notes Stuart Lancaster's men are in top form. 'They had a big win [against Italy] and we know all about them from last year and what they bring to the table. We'll have a look, and will start planning, for England this week,' he says. 'It's not a case of revenge. If you go out looking for revenge, you'll get bit on the arse. It's a case of being composed, measured and making sure we have all our detail in place, and that we're singing off the same hymn-sheet.'
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