At various junctures in the past year and a half, you'd have been given long, long odds on Peter O'Mahony being captain of the British & Irish Lions in the first Test against New Zealand.
Of course, he has now captained every team for whom he's played, PBC Cork, Cork Constitution under-age and senior sides, Munster and Ireland Under-18 and 20s, Ireland on the tour of America in 2013 at just 23, and now the Lions.
A natural born leader then, who learned at the altar of Munster leaders such as Anthony Foley and Paul O'Connell, as well as Brian O'Driscoll. He is not especially vocal, more a captain by deed than word, nonetheless he demands high standards, from the training ground to match-day.
He was also an outstanding leader for Ireland in the World Cup, notably in the pool decider against France after Paul O’Connell went off with a career ending hamstring tear at the end of the first-half. Whereupon O’Mahony followed him out of the game and the tournament with a ruptured ACL 15 minutes into the second-half.
He was one player who would have been earmarked from an early stage for a Lions tour
Not only did O’Mahony not play again for a year, by the time the final game of the Six Nations came around against England over 15 months later, O’Mahony had started only one Test, against Canada last November. Having fallen down the pecking order, niggling injuries had seen him miss the start of both the November window in Chicago and the first two rounds of the Six Nations, limiting him to a barnstorming cameo off the bench in November against Australia and two more against France and Wales.
Monster game
Had he been restricted to another bench role against England in the final round of the Six Nations, who knows? But Jamie Heaslip’s injury in the warm-up saw O’Mahony promoted at short notice, and he had such a monster game that he propelled himself into the Lions frame, and backed that up with his form for Munster.
According to the Lions' scrum coach Graham Rowntree, they always considered the Munster captain to be the kind of player the coaches wanted to bring on this tour.
“I think he was one player who would have been earmarked from an early stage for a Lions tour. He’s exactly the character you need – a guy who would get on with things if he wasn’t involved in the Test squad. He would pull along the rest of that group and we need that on Lions tours. His form at the end of the Six Nations and for Munster, and he’s led Munster well after the Six Nations, that’s got him on the tour.”
Rowntree also spoke of O’Mahony’s role on and off the pitch thus far on tour.
“He’s got the respect of the group, that’s for sure, by his actions and not just by what he’s been saying as a captain. He gets on with things. It’s that Munster kind of aggression around everything we do in training, determination, almost ‘follow me, lads’. He has that Paul O’Connell kind of DNA in him, being a Munster man. He’s a good guy as well, very diligent, not afraid in training of saying, ‘Lads, this isn’t good enough.’ He’s pulling along the standards, along with the coaches.”
“You look at his game last Saturday night – involvements high and effective, aggressive. I thought he dealt with the referee well as well, respectfully speaking to the referee without being in his ear too much.”
“I’ve enjoyed working with him. I’ve coached against him for a long time and he’s always a bloody handful when you’re playing against Ireland, but delighted he’s on the tour. He’s performed well and he’s certainly been putting his hand up for selection.”
Quite content
There is indeed something old school about him. In front of the cameras or a full press room, O’Mahony doesn’t give away too much, although he can be a very accommodating and revealing one-on-one interviewee. As someone remarked, his eyes can seem almost distant, and in tandem with his match mode, or battle mode, he can convey the impression of being quite intense. Au contraire according to Rowntree.
“No, he’s a good fella. He’s able to relax. I can’t speak highly enough of the fella. He’s been great whatever role he performs going forward. He’ll be great for the group. The lads respect his actions and want to follow him.”
“This is as intense a gig as I have ever done. We seem to have been in a hundred hotels in the last week. You need to switch off. You need guys who can flick in and out of intensity. He has got that. Off the field you don’t see him growling at people in the dining room.
“We need good lineout forwards against one of the best line-outs in the world, statistically. That has come into consideration but it is not all about the lineout with him. His breakdown work is good, high involvements, aggressive.”
Indeed, for all O’Mahony’s manifold leadership credentials, first off he had to force his way into the starting Test backrow. He brings a controlled aggression and accuracy to his high work-rate, not least in his clearing out and spoiling. Athletic, mobile and durable, he’s also good on the ball.
And he never takes a backward step, which has to typify everything the Lions are about in Eden Park. First off, this momentous collision will be a fight.
