Peter O'Mahony urges 'cop on' in Ireland out-half debate

O'Mahony believes fatigue from the Lions Tour has to be a factor for Ireland in the Six Nations

Former Munster and Ireland player Peter O'Mahony will a pundit of Virgin Media for the 2026 Six Nations. Pic: Ben McShane/Sportsfile

Peter O’Mahony never pictured himself in a pundit’s chair after his playing days. Yet, next weekend, as Ireland face Italy in their second Six Nations outing, he’ll be in the Virgin Media studio alongside Conor Murray, Rob Kearney and Andrew Trimble.

O’Mahony said he wants to explain what defeat actually feels like, and why the noise around young players can be damaging.

“You take the out-half thing, for example, it's a bit of a circus at the moment," he said.

"People love sport in Ireland, people love the game but some of the opinions cross the line on social media. People get hysterical about it, people who don't know what they're talking about. People are firing stuff off online that these days goes direct to a fella's phone. I don't think they understand some of the consequences it might have.

“You have two very young men (Sam Prendergast and Jack Crowley) who are inexperienced. You put Harry (Byrne) into that boat now as well. You have three guys who have lots and lots of talent, who are trying to figure out their careers. People think that one of these guys was going to turn into Johnny Sexton overnight.

“You need time. You need time in the jersey. You need experience. You need to fail. You need to make mistakes. Fortunately, back in my day, you could do that without having every delinquent in the parish sending you a letter through the postbox but now you can do it instantly to a fella's phone.

“I'm not saying Jack and Harry and Sam are reading all this stuff but when there's that much of it, it can get through and it's hard not to hear some of it.

“It's tough. You have pressure. The game itself is pressured enough without having all the outside stuff. I think people need to have a little bit more cop on or respect at times.” 

O’Mahony has known hard days in an Ireland jersey, ones when it felt like “you've let people down”. He understands what players will go through this weekend following their defeat to France on Thursday.

“It always used to really hit hard but you figure it out together,” he said.

“Guys need to have an opinion in the meetings. You can't have coaches asking questions, and the room being quiet.

“You turn the page on Monday evening. Monday will be tough. You get around each other. You look after each other. You've got to bounce back in on Tuesday morning to work smiling. You've got to make people feel good. And you've got to plan for a big performance (against Italy).” 

18 Irish players were involved with the Lions last summer in Australia. While O’Mahony – a Lions tourist in 2017 - thinks players will dismiss the notion of fatigue due to the tour, he believes it is a factor.

“You don't get the pre-season that you normally do," he said. "You don't get your eight or nine weeks. You might get technically six weeks of pre-season, but it's not with your squad.

“You don't get the same mental rest and recovery. That has to have an effect.”