Unleash O’Mahony.
With Sean O’Brien out of the selection mix for the opening rounds of the 2018 Six Nations, Joe Schmidt turned to Josh van der Flier and was set to give the 24-year-old an extended run in his side.
Van der Flier had earned his spot in the Irish back row after putting in a series of hard-working and effective displays for Leinster. His 34 tackles against Connacht garnered a lot of headlines but that was just a taste of what the openside was up to. His season-ending knee injury will be keenly felt.
Dan Leavy is to step in for van der Flier but the loss of a back-row work-horse should see Peter O’Mahony’s role re-defined for the remainder of the championship.
The form of Leavy, in Paris, and O’Mahony going back to what he does best was discussed by Kevin McLaughlin and James Downey on The Hard Yards podcast [from 25:00 below].
“What an impact from Leavy,” Downey declared. “Perfect game for him, really. He was at the breakdown when we needed him and went in and did the hard yards; literally.”
On anticipated back row changes, McLaughlin commented:
“With Leavy coming in, I think Pete will do a lot more of the donkey work. because Leavy carries quite a lot as well.”
Irish fans would have seen O’Mahony step up his game during that remarkable 41-phase drive up the pitch at Stade de France. The Munster captain had 17 involvements [including seven rucks hit and five carries] during that 5:20 period of play to set up Johnny Sexton’s winning drop goal.
O’Mahony has been showing a lot more in Munster’s attacks this season but, with van der Flier out, it is time to roll the sleeves up again. As we pointed out after Ireland’s November victory over Argentina, the blindside revels in the selfless role that he is so often tasked with.
Italy will take some beating and Ireland can expect one hell of a scrap for at least an hour on Saturday; perhaps longer.
O’Mahony will be key in trying to establish that winning platform this weekend, and in the three games beyond it.
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