Ireland captain O’Mahony savours special day
Ireland flanker Peter O’Mahony said that if Saturday’s Six Nations clinching 17-13 win over Scotland proves to be his last game for his country, it will not be a bad way to go out.
O’Mahony picked up his fifth Six Nations winners medal and first as captain having succeeded Johnny Sexton as skipper in January at the tail end of his career that has spanned 12 years and 105 internationals.
The Munster forward, who turns 35 this year, said he had big decisions to make.
“I need to think about it. I ’ m still loving it, this part of it is the best feeling in the world and it’s the part you chase but I have to have a proper chat (with my family) and be realistic,” O’Mahony told a news conference.
“If it was my last one, it wasn’t a bad one to go out on.”
O’Mahony, the long-time Munster captain who also led the British & Irish Lions in a 2017 Test, was in tears during the national anthem on Saturday and wished the post-game time on the pitch with his children could have lasted for hours.
“It’s unbelievably special, it was probably the most special,” he said.
“It means the world to me. I’ve said it lots of times before and to the players that it’ sa special thing to be picked for your country and you’ve got to treat it with the utmost respect.”
Ireland coach Andy Farrell said O’Mahony would do what was right for him and that he had led the team magnificently against Scotland in his best performance of the campaign.
“I’ve been a big fan of Pete’s for all his career. We have a close enough relationship to be honest with one another when talking about his career when he’s getting towards the end,” Farrell said.
“We’re so proud of him.”
● France assistant coach Shaun Edwards said his team’s defensive display in their last-gasp 33-31 victory over England on Saturday was the worst of his four years on the job.
Thomas Ramos’s lastminute penalty from the halfway line secured the victory after England had looked to have snatched it with their fourth try by Tommy Freeman a minute earlier.
The result left France second in the standings on 15 points, behind champions Ireland, who beat them in the opening game of the tournament, on 20, with England third on 14.
“I was very disappointed with our defence, I thought England’s attack was all over us, particularly in our midfield,” Edwards said.
“We have a lot of work to do, we shouldn’t have to score 30 points to win a game, even if it’s exciting. On the field we were just missing tackles, not being aggressive enough.
“There are a lot of tries being scored in modern-day rugby, but I thought today our defence was probably the worst performance we have had since I have been here.
“But our attack was fantastic especially our maul, and the future is good.”
It was a fluctuating game with France making most of the early running before England surged back with two tries by centre Ollie Lawrence on either side of halftime.
They thought they had done enough for a first win in Paris since 2016 when Freeman scored, only for Ramos to secure the victory for France.
“I am disappointed for the players, they worked so hard, and for the supporters who were magnificent,” England coach Steve Borthwick said.
“I am immensely proud, you can see how the shirt is getting lighter,” he said, after his comments last week that the England shirt weighed heavily on some players.
“We have shown in the last two weeks we are competing with the top four teams again but we don’t want to just compete, we want to win and this is a step in the right direction.”