Bruised and exhausted Peter O’Mahony can now rest on his laurels

Peter O’Mahony’s pain as he rose from the bench to celebrate Ireland’s victory was as excruciating as the preceding minutes had been for those in the Aviva Stadium to watch on Saturday night.

Less than 20 minutes earlier, the sell-out crowd had risen in unison to salute the Ireland vice-captain — whom Joe Schmidt would later describe as an “absolute warrior” — as he walked gingerly from the pitch, his day’s work complete and objective reached.