On March 17, Peter O’Mahony must have been a distant echo in the Lions conversation. On March 18 he was a big part of it and the very next evening he was being touted as a Lions midweek captain.
Come June 24 and O’Mahony could well be leading the damn Lions out at Eden Park.
The Munster captain came back into the Irish starting line-up the hard way. Out of action for a year after injuring his knee at the 2015 World Cup, O’Mahony found CJ Stander had taken the Ireland No.6 jersey by the time he got back.
He missed out on the Chicago win over New Zealand, paid his dues by leading an inexperienced team against Canada and accepted the impact sub role whenever it came about. He was drafted in as blindside against England, in the six Nations finalé, at five minutes notice when Jamie Heaslip’s back seized up.
Talk about taking your chances. O’Mahony was a brutish, roaring revelation against the champions as he rocked them on their heels and kept driving forward. Performances in Munster red definitely helped and O’Mahony is now set to represent the Lions this summer.
Former Munster, Ireland and Lions captain Keith Wood knows exactly why Warren Gatland and his coaching staff selected the Cork Con man. Wood told BBC 5 Live:
“I know there were doubts that Peter O’Mahony would be picked but I had no doubts at all. The guy is a nuisance.
“You want him on the field. You want him in the jersey. He’ll annoy everybody and I mean absolutely everybody. I mean arms and legs everywhere… he’s just the most perfect nuisance to have in the team.”
Peter O'Mahony is one of 11 Irish players selected in the #Lions2017 squad.
Keith Wood thinks he's 'the perfect nuisance'! pic.twitter.com/bBojiUNguB
— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) April 19, 2017
And if there were any lingering doubts as to why O’Mahony got the call, Lions scrum coach Graham Rowntree spelled out just the team of characters that the Lions were aiming to bring to New Zealand.
“We need toughness,” Rowntree declared. “Guys with an edge… guys who can perform the basics well but who’ve got an edge.”
'We needed toughness. Guys with an edge"#LionsNZ2017 assistant Graham Rowntree on 'the best squad we've ever had' pic.twitter.com/G7DmUjdgVb
— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) April 19, 2017
O’Mahony has Munster business to deal with first but then he will dedicated every waking moment to making that Test team and being that ‘perfect nuisance’ against the All Blacks.
