O’Mahony driven by the fear factor
Peter O’Mahony soon finds himself caught up in it, but is reluctant to add to the hubbub. “I already have enough to worry about with the lineout and the scrum without worrying what the lads are doing,” he protests.
It’s a fair point.
For all the chatter of Robbie Henshaw and Jared Payne, or even Springbok out-half Handre Pollard, O’Mahony knows better than most than none of them can even begin to matter if their respective teams fail at the arm wrestle that is the breakdown.
That is where he comes in. And Jamie Heaslip and Chris Henry. For all the injured players missing, Ireland will start with nine of those who kicked off against France in Paris last March, and that back row makes up a third of that number.
They are the team’s beating heart but he stresses the need for all the arteries to be in full flow if the Boks are to be beaten.
“They have got to step up,” he says when asked about the influx of some new faces and the absence of old ones. “They are the Irish centre partnership now. The team has been named and that is the fittest team we have.
“It is not going to be an excuse for us come the weekend, that we have lots of injuries. The Irish 15 is being out on the pitch with eight on the bench. That’s the squad, what we have been using for the last fortnight.
“We are the group that has to step up. No-one can help us. It is up to us to get it right and get our physicality right.”
O’Mahony’s demeanour at media gigs is suggestive of a guy who would prefer to be almost anywhere else, but he delivers replies devoid of frippery and he is clinical when asked where Ireland need to target improvements from last season.
Wouldn’t you know it, it’s the breakdown. Ireland must be more physical, more technical and, crucially against this Bok team in which wingers and front rows are as capable in a ruck as their groundhog back rows, quicker to the pill.
It’s a huge ask and, in terms of the scale of the task facing this Ireland team, compares to last November’s meeting with New Zealand, who looked equally daunting at a time when Ireland appeared particularly vulnerable.
It’s been said that the performance Ireland ultimately produced that day was one borne of fear after the heavy defeat to the Wallabies and the knowledge that similar failings would be met with even greater carnage at the hands of the world’s best side.
“Fear is something that always drives me,” says O’Mahony who wins his 24th senior cap today and his second against South Africa. “It is something that we have always used. Fear of losing and letting your team down.
“Fear of not playing well in the green jersey. Fear of letting the fans down. It always plays a card for you. If you are not fearful before an international, you might as well go home.”
Other fears were voiced by media and fans this week — whether the volume of injuries, the quality of opposition and their preparation or the lack of time Schmidt & Co. have had themselves.
The Kiwi has regularly remarked on the small windows in which he must do his work with the players and the result last year was a pragmatic Irish team that eschewed many of the bells and whistles with which Schmidt’s Leinster had been known for.
It begs the question as to what we can expect from his side now that coach and players have had their first full, and successful, season together. O’Mahony was hardly about to reveal much and yet his response still said a lot.
“I think you have seen the way we play the game. We are getting to the stage where we can mix it up, but we always come back to our core values,. Basics and discipline are two things that will be huge.
“Our basics are our scrum, our lineout, our tackle, our breakdown. If we don’t do them we’ll get punished.”
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