Munster captain O’Mahony ready to lead in red of the Lions

When the moment came over breakfast in the Lions' Rotorua hotel this morning, it was as straight to the point as you'd expect given the characters of Warren Gatland and Peter O'Mahony.

“He just gave me a nod at breakfast, and fired it at me, and obviously I was delighted,” said O’Mahony in explaining how the Lions head coach approached him and asked him to captain the tourists in their match against the Maori All Blacks.

Asked if there was any more to the conversation than that, O’Mahony said: “No, no that was it.” O’Mahony smiled, as did Gatland alongside him. But if the Munster captain was inclined not to make a big deal out of the issue, he admitted that it was nonetheless an enormous honour.

“It’s a huge honour. Obviously to be picked for the Lions at all is a massive honour. To get the nod from Warren this weekend is hugely special, not just me but for all the clubs, people and family who have put effort into me. It’s a huge honour.”

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Getting stuck in

The trick now will be to preside over a winning Lions team. “We’re looking to build on Saturday, build on our ‘learnings’ from Tuesday. That’s what this tour is all about. It is a tight turnaround, but as a group of players you’ve got to prepare for that before you arrive, you know they are coming thick and fast. Guys are well prepared, the recovery structure we have is excellent, so no excuses, we’re getting stuck in, in training.

“We want to win but first and foremost we need a performance. Whatever comes after that is what comes. We need to be stepping up and guys to stick your hands up.”

This was not about competing for Test starting spots in O’Mahony’s view.

“You’ve got to do it justice, not just for yourself but for everything the Lions stands for, for the guys that don’t get the chance at the weekend, you’re playing for the 41 and everything that goes behind. There’s a huge amount of honour that goes into the jersey, and you have to show it every time you put it on.”

A turning point in Gatland’s time as coach was when he and the Irish management made wholesale changes and dipped heavily into the Munster zeitgeist for the rejuvenating 44-22 win over Scotland in 2000, and he clearly hasn’t forgotten. Prior to the Crusaders game he had talked about O’Mahony bringing some of the Munster dog, or mongrel

“I think sometimes that you’re looking, it’s not something that you can quantify what Munster brings to a game. It’s a special pride, sometimes the performances they can produce, it’s done consistently over the years. Being able to dig deep and bring performances from places where individuals and collectively people often can’t do.

“That’s what Peter will bring to the team on Saturday.”