O’Mahony: We are in a very enjoyable place

Peter O’Mahony came into the 2014 Six Nations Championship driven by the hurt of a fifth-place finish last year.

Four games later, with Ireland on the brink of the title, the blindside flanker believes his side could not be in a better place as they prepare to take on France in Paris tonight.

Just 12 months ago, O’Mahony was trudging off the Stadio Olimpico pitch in the wake of a first Six Nations defeat to Italy as Ireland recorded their worst finish in the championship since the Italians joined the party in 2000.

Now he will feature in a side improving with every performance having won three of their four games and boasting a far superior points difference to their title rivals England and the French.

“It’s mad because it is the bones of the same team that finished fifth last year,” O’Mahony said yesterday following an eve of match training run at Stade de France.

“That is probably why it hurt so much because we knew that we were a very capable side. [The difference from last year has] been a combination of things. We have trained very well. Guys realised to win championships you have to do a bit more than what the normal professional rugby players do and you have to spend a bit more time — it’s not just the two, three hours a day that you are called upon that you are under the video, under the spotlight.

“It’s the other hours outside of the training pitch, the mental strength that you have to work on. It is hard to put a finger on it though, but it is a good place to be at the moment, a very enjoyable place to be and hopefully we can continue that.”

O’Mahony, 24, returns to the side having sat out last Saturday’s 46-7 victory over Italy at Aviva Stadium in order to rest sore hamstrings. Back to full fitness, the Munster captain admitted there was additional pressure going into tonight’s title decider.

“You feel the pressure is on and without a doubt it’s the biggest week of my career so far. You’re certainly putting pressure on yourself, you feel it from outside factors but you try and put that to bed and try and turn it to your favour and use it as motivation.

“We haven’t talked about us being special, we haven’t talked about this game being anything other than what it is, it’s a cup final for us.

“We’re not looking back on momentum, we’re not looking back on last week. Everything is irrelevant to us now. It’s the 80 minutes tomorrow night.”

O’Mahony, was a member of the U20 squad returning from Wales when Brian O’Driscoll was leading Declan Kidney’s side to their last Six Nations title in Cardiff in 2009. Conor Murray, Jack McGrath, Ian Madigan and Dave Kearney, all members of this evening’s match-day squad, were in that underage group and O’Mahony watched the game at Madigan’s house. Five years on and O’Mahony was asked if he could describe what it would mean to win the title.

“I don’t think so, no,” came the reply.