Peter O’Mahony might consider growing a moustache if there is a next visit to Murrayfield, the kind beloved of cartoon villains and one that he can twirl in an abstract fashion when the booing starts, as if to emphasise the status bestowed on him.
There was a pantomime element to the reaction of some Scottish supporters when the former Munster captain was replaced during Sunday’s Six Nations Championship match. They chose to boo but could just have easily shouted, “Awa’ an bile yer heid”, the Scottish vernacular for inviting someone who gets on your nerves to ‘go and boil your head’. Get lost, basically.
There’s a little bit of history there with Munster and Glasgow down through the years and a mutual dislike for some players on both sides. Was O’Mahony aware of the catcalling at the time? No. But he was appraised of it when he plonked his backside on a seat in the stand.
He explained: “I don’t know what it is. It’s competitive, we’ve had the Glasgow thing for a long time. Every time it’s a battle and I think someone said I got a fairly savage boo when I came off, which is potentially one of the biggest compliments of my career [in] 111 Test matches! So, thanks Murrayfield! I’ll take it.”
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As the saying goes, ‘winners are grinners’ so it won’t cost him a moment’s thought, nor will it spoil his memory of Ireland’s 11th straight victory over the Scots. O’Mahony prefers to treasure every appearance in a green jersey as he stares into the sunset. As he frequently admits he is a “broken record” in stating how much he loves playing for his country.
The Corkman understands the dynamic of a shifting selection landscape at this point in his career but more importantly he embodies the attitude required to facilitate that transition from frontline to a place in the rank and file.
O’Mahony said: “Everyone who plays professional rugby in Ireland wants to play for Ireland. All the kids want to play for Ireland, even more so now because every time they turn on the TV we’re winning.
“If you ask any of my generation who they followed, it was all the teams that won, so everyone wants to play for Ireland. It’s no different for me or my youngest fella or my middle fella, they all want to play for Ireland. So, I’m delighted I got the chance to put on the jersey and put in a performance like that.”
Ireland captain Caelan Doris said O’Mahony had struck an emotional tone in the build-up to the England game. Ireland’s blindside flanker on Sunday explained: “In weeks like that it’s always important to show your intent in training. I want to be involved, and I was disappointed [not to get picked for the English match] but at the same time you have a job to prepare the team in the best way they can.
“It’s no different to the group who weren’t playing this week, that’s what [being] part of this team and this job is, being selfless and a good team man. From the 34 or 35 of us in here In the Irish squad], to a man is a good team man, so it’s nothing different to what any of us would normally do.”
While others may fast forward or project beyond the Wales match at the Principality Stadium on Saturday week, O’Mahony, and one suspects the Ireland coaching team and players won’t be among them. They’ll be taking bite-size morsels out of the Scotland review, things to work on, and looking where they plan to exploit Welsh weaknesses.
Ireland had a clear plan going into the Scottish game, something on which O’Mahony touched.
“I thought we had a really good first 10, 15 minutes. We spoke about our start, and we spoke about it afterwards, we felt like we were all over them. I enjoyed that, I have to say.
“I sense that this is a good group and if we put our minds to it, if we stay on top of the stuff that we talk about, we can put in some very, very good performances.
“We’re tough to beat but you saw just before half-time, little lapses of concentration, we don’t scrum quite right and [give up] the breakdown penalty. We kind of switch off defensively. That’s international rugby, you’ve got to be all over it for 80 minutes. There were windows that we allowed them in.
“We know what’s at stake but again, as I spoke about, you get ahead of things, and something goes wrong. We have a few days off, back in the camp, and it’s great now, two good performances and we’ve a big lead into another big game against Wales.”
