Peter O’Mahony is the most Munster of Munster players
efore coming to the Top 14, what I knew of ‘JIF’ amounted to a lemon cleaning product which was good on grimy surfaces. Five years later, ‘JIFF’ has a completely different meaning for me, and it is one that the likes of Peter O’Mahony and anyone else eyeing faraway hills should enlighten themselves on.
The possibility of O’Mahony leaving Munster for England’s Premiership or the Top 14 in France when his contract expires was floated this week. This is a new development in Irish rugby, players prepared to look over the garden wall and adopting a proactive, even aggressive, approach to contract renegotiation. Fair play to them. It didn’t really happen in my time. I never thought hard about leaving Munster. I had a big offer but was never tempted to jump. Maybe the novelty of Munster-Leinster derbies has begun to wear off for the players in both provinces. The world’s a bit smaller now. Lads in Leinster have won three European Cups. Is there the same appetite and incentive there for Irish players to stay put?
