The Dragons earned a bonus-point 35-12 victory at Rodney Parade and only an unlikely draw between Perpignan and the Lions in France on Saturday, with both sides scoring four tries, can deny Filo Tiatia’s men from a place in the last 16.
O’Brien played a pivotal role at full-back for the Dragons, landing all four conversions as they overturned a half-time deficit to score 28 unanswered points and put themselves firmly in contention for a place in the last 16.
While the result may yet hinge on the outcome of that remaining Pool 2 fixture, O’Brien was clear that the response from his side marked a significant step forward.
“It was a huge effort from the boys and a brilliant reaction from what we saw last week,” O’Brien said.
“The first half was quite cagey, we made their two tries quite easy but I knew if we just stuck in there we'd turn our pressure into points.
“We were on top a lot of the first half, we were waiting for them to crack, really.
“We kept going and the boys were outstanding up front and we got our reward in the end. It was a really confident performance in the second-half and we were delighted to get five points.”
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That confidence was not always evident in a frantic opening period, with Dragons falling behind despite applying sustained pressure.
Wing Rio Dyer broke the deadlock after half an hour, racing in at the corner to give the hosts the lead.
But a costly two-minute spell swung momentum Newcastle’s way, as scrum-half Simon Benitez Cruz crossed before Christian Wade stunned the home crowd with a 70-metre effort after collecting a cross-field kick, Ethan Grayson converting both scores to make it 12-7 at the break.
Dragons head coach Filo Tiatia admitted his side failed to make the most of their early dominance, but praised the composure shown after the interval as they shifted through the gears.
“First half we applied a lot of pressure and good momentum, but we didn’t execute and finish points that we should have got, conceded a late try so we went into the sheds and just spoke about being clinical,” said Tiatia.
“I felt we were in second gear in that first half. We just didn’t finish things and we needed to go into another gear. We found some solutions in the second half and managed to build some go-forward.”
The turnaround was swift and emphatic. Hooker Brodie Coghlan powered over from close range following a driving maul early in the second half, with O’Brien nailing a superb touchline conversion to edge the Dragons back in front at 14-12.
Moments later, centre Fine Inisi sliced through the Newcastle defence, sending Dyer clear for his second try to extend the lead to 21-12.
With Newcastle struggling to contain the momentum, a collapsed maul resulted in a penalty try before David Richards completed the scoring late on, collecting O’Brien’s kick and shrugging off two defenders to touch down for the fifth.
Tiatia reserved special praise for the Rodney Parade faithful, crediting them with playing a decisive role in the comeback.
“You can hear them constantly up in the top there and typically when pressure and mistakes happen and then they added their value to the group,” said Tiatia.
“We’ve just got to keep playing well and then when we play well, the fans come up and they’re a massive part of our success,
“So it's really a 15 put on the field and the fans are 16, or they’re a 16-plus. They’re awesome.”
Despite the uncertainty over qualification, Tiatia was satisfied his side had taken care of their own responsibilities.
“We’ve sort of done our role. Tonight was the win, to try and get an extra bonus point and what happens next will happen.
“Our leadership group have been instrumental in demanding more from each other. They have kept people more accountable around doing their jobs, so that’s been a big shift.
“The coaches have been working really hard with the players, trying to get the best out of them. We still got areas of growth, a lot of gaps in certain areas,
“We’ve just got to keep improving. We've still got a lot of work to do.”
