Holy Moses, that was some viewing.
Peter O’Mahony looked fit to burst.
Minutes after his Munster team had been beaten by fierce rivals Leinster, the Munster captain fronted up the the TV cameras.
Rarely has a man hated losing with such seething, festering commitment than O’Mahony but he held himself together as well as possible and gave Leinster their dues. And then he heard TG4’s Reggie Corrigan questioning the spirit and intensity of his teammates, on live TV.
He was not having it for a minute and thrice defended his colleagues before quickly walking out once the interview was concluded.
Is léir nach raibh Peter O'Mahony sásta le cuid de ceisteanna Reggie Corrigan inniu #LEIvMUN @PRO14Official ar @TG4TV pic.twitter.com/hZsZ1ec0cj
— Spórt TG4 (@SportTG4) October 7, 2017
About 15 minutes after that TV interview, a showered and changed O’Mahony sat down in front of the press pack. “Leinster is always a difficult place to come and play, regardless, but when you come out and give away eight or nine penalties in the first half, you’re going to put yourself under a huge amount of pressure,” he said.
“As you can see, we’re trying different things. We’re trying hard and we really are working as hard as we can, but you’ve got to give yourself a chance and we didn’t, today, with that display.”
We then asked O’Mahony if he was annoyed at having his team’s heart and desire questioned by Corrigan, he replied:
“Yeah, it is.
“I think it’s a silly question. Essentially, he’s calling myself and my teammates out and saying we’re not trying hard enough, or questioning if we’re not working hard enough or do we want it enough.Â
“You know what I mean? I’m a very proud man, a very proud Munster man and a very proud Irishman and that’s a question at the core of everything. Everything we do in Munster rugby, in Irish rugby, is based around work-rate and your want to win and how relentless you can be.
“For someone to question that, I take huge offence to.”
Emphatic response, that.
Corrigan, who led Leinster with distinction against Munster on many occasions, may not have intended to cause major offence to O’Mahony and his teammates but his choice of wording has definitely seemed to do that.
Already, we can’t wait for the return fixture on December 26 at Thomond Park.
Expect that interview to play on a loop at Munster’s University of Limerick training complex in the week leading up to that tie.
