No respect for his elders.
Peter O’Mahony can thank Dan Sheehan for images of his bare torso being shared, far and wide, across the country, over the past 24 hours.
The Ireland captain led his country to a 2024 Six Nations title and later answered questions on his possible retirement from Test rugby with a “We’ll see… it could be.”
O’Mahony insists he still loves the day-to-day of being in and around this Ireland team, and they appear to have a tight bond. Ireland have won a Triple Crown, Grand Slam and retained a Six Nations title in each of the last three campaigns, as well as securing an away Test Series victory in New Zealand.
Sheehan had an excellent Six Nations as he scored five tries and was part of a front row unit that was dominant in four of their five outings. He is one of the newer additions to the squad’s leadership group, but may get a slap-down for whipping up his captain’s jersey during the trophy lift.
The moment was captured perfectly by Irish Rugby, and you can see the Munster legend whipping around to tell the Leinster hooker to, “F**k off!” as he feels the breeze on his ribs.
Dan Sheehan following cheeky Leinster ‘tradition’
Peter O’Mahony was reminded, post-match, of a barren run for trophies at Munster, under his captaincy. Normally that would elicit a gruff response but last season’s United Rugby Championship success and Saturday’s Six Nations title had him in much lighter mood.
Up until their recent trend of going deep in competitions but not winning the big prize, the Ireland squad’s cohort of young Leinster players were all used to clinching trophies. James Ryan, for example, is a five-time league winner and helped Leinster to Champions Cup success in 2018. Sheehan won the URC with Leinster in his first full season, 2020/21.
Sheehan’s jersey lift of Peter O’Mahony, then, was following a cheeky Leinster tradition of trying to embarrass a teammate during the trophy presentations. Fergus McFadden was caught out with the same move when he and Rob Kearney lifted the old ‘PRO 14’ trophy at Aviva Stadium in September 2020. The now retired centre told House of Rugby that players in the squad have to be on high alert during such presentations.
Dan Sheehan won that round, but you can be sure Peter O’Mahony will have his vengeance yet.
WATCH HOUSE OF RUGBY, WITH LINDSAY PEAT & JOHNE MURPHY
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