Peter O’Mahony learns from Lions role

Peter O’Mahony believes he is a stronger player, person and leader for the experiences he and his Munster team went through in the last 12 months.

The Munster captain hit the ground running on Saturday, leading his team to a bonus-point Guinness PRO14 win over Cardiff Blues at Thomond Park. It was his seasonal debut and, in his 73 minutes on the field, he showed all the bristle, intensity, work-rate and effectiveness that earned him the Lions Test captaincy in the series opener against the All Blacks in June. That game at Eden Park had been O’Mahony’s final act of a remarkable campaign that he had begun sidelined by the knee injury suffered at the World Cup in October 2015 and which was shaped by the sudden death of head coach Anthony Foley in Paris last October 16.

O’Mahony would lead Munster on an unlikely run to the Champions Cup semi-finals, the top of the PRO12 table at the end of the regular season and an appearance in the league final, while also making his mark with a standout performance in green as Ireland denied Six Nations rivals the Grand Slam.