O’Mahony: Axel would have said, just be yourself
LIONS captain Peter O’Mahony knows what his old Munster mentor Anthony Foley would say before Saturday’s First Test against the All Blacks.
“Just be yourself,” would be the instructions from the man known as Axel, who died tragically late last year while his Munster team were in Paris to play Racing 92.
Be yourself and take what is a unique opportunity — a chance that only became a reality when Jamie Heaslip pulled his hamstring during Ireland’s warm-up ahead of their final Six Nations match against England. To me thing.
“It’s not about trying to get one up on anyone,an not worrying about cominging homeh and doing that, it’s about being as successful as we can for this group of players and this brand.”
But the bulk of Gatland’s coaching careecareer has been outside New Zealandland, and he knows that means it has been largely dismissed at hohome.
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Elevated to the starting XV, O’Mahony was outstanding in the 13-9 win that stopped England’s run of 18 consecutive victories, soaring high in the lineouts and immense around the field.
Lions scrum coach Graham Rowntree has suggested O’Mahony was always on their radar but he became more than just a distant blip that day in Dublin. Now, O’Mahony will captain the Lions ahead of tour skipper Sam Warburton at Eden Park, a ground where the All Blacks haven’t lost since 1984.
O’Mahony said: “It’s a huge task. Obviously the calibre of the player
important two places to sixth in the world rankings is great, but the All Blacks were and still are No 1. A grand slam Six Nations title in 2008? Ok, but it’s the second division of international rugby — isn’t it? It’s not the Rugby Championship where the mighty Springboks and Wallabies take on the All Blacks.
Such an attitude among Kiwis is easy to understand. After all, with Ireland Gatland never beat any of the southern hemisphere behemoths, losing once to the All Blacks, four times to South Africa and three times to Australia.
He hasn’t fared much better with Wales, losing 10 of 11 tests to the they have, their record at Eden Park is impressive; but it’s going to be a different animal this weekend.
“There’s going to be 20-odd thousand Lions fans there. These are the games you want to be involved in. It’s where the players want to be.”
It will be his fifth Test against New Zealand and he is yet to taste victory as he was injured when Ireland upset the world champions in Chicago last year. “It’s incredible to be picked for the Lions and then to be asked to captain them is a huge honour,” O’Mahony said. “It’s down to business now. You take in the fact you are selected and now it’s on to the job.”
That job, he knows, is incredibly tough, but also very simple. Foley would have told him that.
“Axel’s a rugby man, so he would have told us all, ‘Play your game, play what you do and what you know,’” said O’Mahony of Foley, who played 62 Tests for Ireland.
“He’d tell us there’s a reason we’ve been selected so go out and play the game that you know. There’s no point in trying to be something you’re not. You’ve been picked for a reason and he would have said, ‘Go out and play as well as you can, because there’s no one going to fault you for that.’”
No one indeed. Springboks, eight of nine to the Wallabies and all 10 to New Zealand.
It grates. It irks. It frustrates. Just don’t expect him to admit it.
Besides, he made up some ground with the Lions in Australia in 2013, a series they won, 2-1.
At 53, time is running out for Gatland but he knows, or perhaps hopes, that if the Lions can emulate the deeds of the 1971 team then his stocks will soar at home. He might, just might, be seen then as a serious contender to replace Steve Hansen as All Blacks coach after the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
For now, Gatland would rank behind
He’s realised that New Zealanders still have a biased perception of rugby in the north