We doubt there’s any man better placed to talk about Ireland’s 11th Lions test captain, Peter O’Mahony than Munster forwards coach Jerry Flannery, who is also a former team-mate of the man of the moment.
The Munster captain will lead out the 2017 British and Irish Lions team in their first test of this year’s tour against New Zealand in Eden Park on Saturday.
The majority of Ireland rugby supporters are well aware of the of the on-field colossus that is Peter O’Mahony at this stage, but the 38-year-old Flannery knows more than most about his leadership off the field as well as his attitude in training.
Flannery, speaking on BBC 5 live Sport gave an insight into the aggression and the power of O’Mahony. According to the Limerick man, this ferocity is as prevalent on the training field as it is on the field of play.
“He’s confrontational, he’s aggressive. He walks a fine line between intimidating other players at training and making people raise their standards to get up to where the team needs to be,” remarked Flannery.
O’Mahony leads by example on the training field. The fact that he ‘intimidates’ some of his team-mates at training just goes to show the relentless intensity of the man. O’Mahony is a fighter, a fighter who is now leading the Lions.
"Aggressive. Confrontational. Big-game player"
How is #LionsNZ2017 captain @peterom6 as a teammate?
We asked Munster coach Jerry Flannery: pic.twitter.com/hWWh6VVmXy
— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) June 21, 2017
“Anyone can tell from looking at him that he’s a very confrontational character when he plays on the field and that’s what he builds his game around. He’s pretty old-school when it comes to rugby,” added Flannery “and that’s what he builds his game around.”
Even when he was a youngster, a small fish in the Munster pond, something struck Flannery about Peter. He was confident, he was sure of himself and he was so, so ambitious.
“When I was playing in Munster I remember him coming up through our academy and he’d approach the older players to listen to them. But was not in any way in awe of them. He was saying ‘What can I take from these people and use myself?’
O’Mahony always had a maturity beyond his years which lead to him being named the Munster captain.
“He’s always been the most mature guy in the group coming through age-grade rugby – he always came forward as a captain,” recalled Flannery.
This maturity, this dedication to his sport has culminated in the greatest honour of all for the Corkonian in leading the British and Irish Lions.
“This is the culmination of all the hard work he’s put in over his career…He’s one of the best line-out forwards I’ve ever seen,” he said.
