Peter O’Mahony believes Ireland can be world beaters again

Whatever about his claims to a starting place in Ireland’s back row to face England this weekend, Peter O’Mahony insists Joe Schmidt’s squad are just a few percentage points away from being the world beaters they looked like just four months ago.

Defeats in the 2017 RBS 6 Nations to Scotland and, last Friday, Wales, have taken the shine off last November’s epic wins over New Zealand and Australia but as Ireland prepare for the visit of Grand Slam-chasing England, O’Mahony believes the belief remains within the camp that regaining the magic is not beyond them and that makes sticking to the process which served them well in the past is a matter of common sense.

“It isn’t really (hard to commit to the process), you just go through what we’ve been through and what we’ve done,” O’Mahony said.