Peter O'Mahony: 'Banana skin is a disrespectful term for this Welsh team'
HARD LESSONS: Peter O'Mahony says "banana skin" is a "disrespectful" term for this Wales team. Picture: ©INPHO/Billy Stickland
As with any self-respecting underdog, Wales will come to Dublin this weekend with their fists raised and their chests out.
Assistant coach Rob Howley has given warning of their intentions to cause “chaos” in the home ranks when they meet in the third round of the Six Nations in Dublin on Saturday. Warren Gatland has touched on the need to knock Ireland off their stride.
Peter O’Mahony took this in his stride after Friday’s captain’s run.
“Look, that’s the game, isn’t it? We have a good record, we are playing well. We have spoken about it and we have a target on us but that comes with the territory and you have to be cool with that and that you are going to get the best of every team.
“We know when we’re good, that we’re going to put teams under pressure and other teams know that now as well. As a result, we expect to get the best of every team and we have no doubt but that we’re going to get the best of Wales tomorrow at 2.15.”
Gatland has been diplomacy personified this week. Ireland have been praised as a “world-class” side, and the structures underpinned by the IRFU have been pinpointed as key pillars on all their recent success, but he countered that by dismissing that tag of underdogs for his boys.
If Wales do win, though, it will send a seismic tremor around the rugby world.
The XV named by Gatland here has just over half the caps boasted by their predecessors when the sides met in this tournament in 2023 and it prompted the question on Friday as to whether the visitors would be a banana skin for Ireland as they chase another Grand Slam.
“I think a banana skin is a disrespectful term for this Welsh team,” said O’Mahony. “I’ve learnt the hard way a good few times, these people are very, very proud. They grow massively when they put on that Welsh shirt.
“You know they are a different animal, a different team. I’ve been on the receiving end of some heavy losses to these guys a few times. Look they’re in transition or whatever you want, but it’s the Welsh XV coming tomorrow.
“I know from experience playing alongside a few of them, playing against them, they’re an unbelievably proud nation and they play big when they’re in the jersey. They do, they play big, and that’s what we’re 100 percent expecting tomorrow.”
It’s a big day for the Ireland skipper who will make his 50th appearance in this grand old tournament. His first was also his Test debut, a comfortable win against Italy in Dublin when he replaced Sean O’Brien for the last 21 minutes a dozen years ago.
“You will probably say I am a broken record but any time you get picked for Ireland is going to be special, no matter what jersey you are in, be it your first, second, 99th, 110th. They are really important and incredibly special and tomorrow is no different for me.
“It is an incredible honour to get the opportunity to put on that jersey and play for your country," he insisted, "and you have to treat it with the utmost respect.” As answers go that’s so on-message for the skipper but it’s impossible to imagine Ciaran Frawley not holding this fixture on a pedestal above pretty much every other game he has ever been a part of in all his 26 years.
The Leinster man, with two Tests caps as a replacement to his name, starts for his country for the first time as he slots in at full-back for the injured Hugo Keenan. This is a big day for the Skerries man, there’s no denying that.
“He’s been brilliant,” said O’Mahony. “He’s been around for a while now. He’s not one of the young, young guys, he’s been around for a good while at this stage with Leinster and in different positions.
“He has been brilliant around the place, an integral part of the craic. Quietly confident. Everyone gets unsure at times and you can see that across the board but you can see in the way he trains and how diligent he is around the place. The ultimate professional.
“Great guy to have around the place so delighted to see his name on the teamsheet.”
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