Rugby 'doesn't get any better' than this for captain O'Mahony

PROUD AS PUNCH: Ireland head coach Andy Farrell, left, and captain Peter O’Mahony. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Peter O’Mahony said captaining Ireland to a record victory on French soil was a highlight of his rugby career.

The veteran flanker, appointed successor as captain to the retired Johnny Sexton by head coach Andy Farrell last month, led Ireland to a 38-17 Guinness Six Nations victory at Stade Velodrome on Friday night as the 2023 Grand Slam winners got their title defence off to a dream start with a five-try, bonus-point victory against their championship rivals.

Ireland made the most of French lock Paul Willemse’s double yellow card dismissal in the first half to take a 17-10 interval lead through tries from Jamison Gibson-Park and Tadhg Beirne and fly-half Jack Crowley’s two conversions and a penalty.

Damien Penaud had ended the opening period with a converted try for France but Ireland roared into a 24-10 lead through Six Nations debutant wing Calvin Nash then rebounded from a Paul Gabrillague try for the home side and O’Mahony’s yellow card on 52 minutes to romp to victory and silence French supporters in the 67,000 sell-out Marseille crowd in the process.

Tries from Dan Sheehan and his replacement at hooker Ronan Kelleher sealed the victory with Crowley three second-half touchline conversions making light of a nervy start to his occupancy of the number 10 jersey in the first game of the post-Sexton era.

It was a first win in France since the 2018 Grand Slam campaign under Joe Schmidt and Farrell’s maiden win here as a head coach after successive defeats in Paris in 2020 and 2022 and also a Six Nations first for Irish tries scored away to Les Bleus.

“I don’t think it gets any better really,” O’Mahony, 34, said. “With the stress of the last couple of days I’d have given the whole lot up for a win tonight. Away from home, first game up, Friday night, Marseille, the Velodrome, I’d have been a happy man packing the whole lot in tomorrow morning if you’d given me the chance to take a win.” 

Farrell, sitting next to his captain in the post-match media conference, jokingly interrupted O’Mahony to ask: “Are you trying to say something? Are you going to pack it all in?” To which the Test centurion replied: “No I’m not.

“No, it has to be right up there. I said inside it’s the biggest margin that we’ve beaten France by. I remember as a young fella, watching Irish teams, and you’d be hoping that they’d hang on in there, whereas it’s a different animal now.” 

The head coach was delighted with his team’s composure in front of a vociferous home crowd which had belted out La Marseillaise at deafening levels before the match.

“As a team, certainly our composure because it wasn't all singing all dancing,” Farrell said when asked what had impressed him most from Ireland’s performance.

“A French side that's always going to pose questions and the crowd was always going to get behind them at times, but we managed to silence them quite a lot through good composure with how we played the game.

“I suppose the main thing for me would have been our ability to just stay on it for the full 80 minutes and keep attacking the game. I think when you're playing against 14 men for a long period, sometimes subconsciously you tend to shut up shop a little bit more, I thought our intent was pretty good and we were pretty ruthless when we needed to be, then obviously on top of that I thought our lineout in attack and defence was outstanding.” 

Farrell praised both Crowley and Six Nations debutant Joe McCarthy, the 22-year-old lock named man of the match as Ireland’s younger players rose to the occasion and justified their selections.

“Obviously delighted for them but it's not something that surprises us as a group because these lads have been involved in and around the group for a number of years. Some have been waiting for their chance, some have played so well that you can't keep them out of the squad.

“The best thing about this team at this moment in time is exactly that, it's a team, and we all pull in the right direction so therefore it doesn't matter whether you're Pete touching 42, 43 or you're young Joe McCarthy who's a young buck trying to make his way.

“Everyone is in the same boat, pulling in the same direction, so it doesn't surprise me that those young guys or the inexperienced guys have performed, because they tend to feel comfortable within their own skin within the environment.” 

Of Crowley, the Ireland boss added: “He typifies exactly what we’re talking about.

“There’s no doubt that a young kid playing in a position like Jack is at 10, with the responsibility of that but then obviously all week, and rightly so, everyone was talking about how were we going to deal without having Johnny at the helm, and Jack was going to be the first one to have a shot at filling the shoes.

“It definitely creeps in. You’d be a liar if you said it didn’t but he gains his strength from knowing that his team-mates are prepared and there to help. I thought his composure at the line was great. He made some really nice decisions and some poor ones as well, and he’ll know that more than anyone else.

“The strength of character in regard to his goal-kicking when he missed the one in front, albeit from a longer distance, to then knock two on the trot over from the sideline showed immense character really.

“So, it’s a good start for him, it’s a good start for us as a team and hopefully he’ll get better and we’ll benefit from that as well.”