O’Mahony putting shoulder to the wheel

MUNSTER supporters will be hoping Peter O’Mahony’s words yesterday won’t prove prophetic, when he philosophically accepted the serious shoulder damage that kept him out of the team’s challenge for Heineken Cup honours last season was all part of the professional game – before adding: "I don’t think it will be my last injury either".

Given the fearless way O’Mahony plays for Munster and Ireland, the danger of being sidelined is always there. However, staying out of the trenches would be anathema to the man.

“Even before I dislocated my shoulder against Toulouse, I knew I had to get both of them done,” he revealed at yesterday’s launch of the new adidas Munster Rugby alternate kit. “One was a long-term injury, then I did the other shoulder against England and aggravated the originally injured one against Scotland. So I was struggling with both. I was trying to nurse myself through the back end of the season but that didn’t work out.”