“Peter O’Mahony has a great vertical leap and his ability to get up in the air is very good.”
Joe Schmidt wasn’t lying.
Many of us wanted O’Mahony to start against England for his lineout abilities and to bring a bit of dog to the fight. He was initially selected to start from the bench until Jamie Heaslip was injured in the warm-up. Opportunity arose. It was grasped.
As it all turned out though, the Munster captain did not feature in much lineout action until the final 10 minutes of the game. Up until the 73rd minute, O’Mahony’s responsibilities revolved around lifting for Ireland’s throws and trying to disrupt England’s darts.
On 73 minutes, though, after Ireland conceded a penalty and lined up to contest a throw on their 22-metre line, O’Mahony came up big.
Look at that beauty in slow motion. Some jump from O’Mahony but you can’t underestimate the lift from Tadhg Furlong and Devin Toner.
No chance Maro Itoje. No chance.
When Ireland needed a massive play, O’Mahony delivered.
Over in France, Ronan O’Gara adored it.
Christy Moore will have to write a song about the Lineout..
— Ronan O Gara (@RonanOGara10) March 18, 2017
Three minutes later and O’Mahony clutched another one, this time from Niall Scannell as Ireland successfully wound down the clock.
It was one of O’Mahony’s finest hours in the green jersey. No wonder he is being tipped for the Lions tour…
"Bloody good player"https://t.co/1ZyimNudQx
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) March 19, 2017
