Peter Jackson: Warrior Peter O’Mahony learns a brutal lesson

PETER JACKSON

THE MAN TRULY IN THE KNOW

A Grand Slam winner last year, Peter O’Mahony backed it up by captaining Ireland to a second successive Six Nations title.

Given his age, it seemed a perfect scenario for retirement, to leave the fans clamouring for more.

Instead the old warrior chose to soldier on, no doubt all too aware of the ruthlessly unforgiving nature of Test rugby. Yet not even he could have imagined how ruthless and how unforgiving it would prove to be.

A narrow defeat to the World Cup holders at their fortress in Pretoria and O’Mahony had lost his place, his status offering not a shred of immunity.

The passing of the armband to Caelan Doris coincided with his predecessor crash-landing on the bench.

His fate provided a reminder, not that anyone needed it, of Andy Farrell’s fearless approach to making tough decisions as head coach.

He would argue that not to have done so would have done a disservice to someone else, in this case James Ryan, duly installed in the second row with Tadhg Beirne moving to blindside.

Come September, rain or shine, O’Mahony will be back in his natural habitat with Munster for one last season.

Whether he chooses to devote that entirely to his native province without the demands of Test rugby remains to be seen.

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