The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Test time: British and Irish Lions unveil team for first clash with All Blacks.
Assistant coach sees element of 2009 skipper in Lions leader O’Mahony
Peter O’Mahony has been described as “exactly the character you need” for a British and Irish Lions tour as he was unveiled as the man to captain the tourists against New Zealand in Saturday’s first Test in Auckland.
Lions assistant coach Graham Rowntree also believes there is an element of 2009 tour skipper Paul O’Connell about Munster star O’Mahony, who leads the team ahead of squad captain Sam Warburton.
Warburton has to be content with a place on the bench, with O’Mahony packing down in the back-row alongside Sean O’Brien and Taulupe Faletau.
Liam Williams has been preferred to Leigh Halfpenny at full-back, while Elliot Daly starts on the left-wing in an attacking back-three.
“He has that Paul O’Connell kind of DNA in him, being a Munster man,” Rowntree said of O’Mahony.
“He is a good guy as well, very diligent, not afraid in training of saying, ‘Lads, this isn’t good enough’.
“You look at his game last Saturday night (against the New Zealand Maori). His involvements were high and effective. I thought he dealt with the referee well as well, respectfully speaking to the referee without being in his ear too much.
“I think he was one player who would have been earmarked from an early stage for a Lions tour. He is exactly the character you need – a guy who would get on with things if he wasn’t involved in the Test squad.
“The lads respect his actions and want to follow him.”
Saturday’s Auckland showdown now becomes the first time a tour captain has not led the Lions in an opening Test since England’s Doug Prentice missed out in 1930.
Head coach Warren Gatland said: “We have picked a side based on form with a lot of players putting their hands up, especially from the Crusaders and Maori All Blacks games, and it was a lively selection meeting.
“The win against the Chiefs was also extremely important for the squad and some players played themselves into the side.
“We have continuously been strong at set-piece and have been good defensively in the last two or three outings.
“But to beat the All Blacks you have to be courageous and play some rugby – you have to score tries and I think we have picked a team capable of doing that.”
Cardiff and Wales flanker Warburton has scrambled for full match sharpness ever since suffering an ankle problem in the tour-opening 13-7 win over the Provincial Barbarians.
So now Munster’s ferocious backrower O’Mahony will captain the Lions in a Test match just three months after he was named only on the bench for Ireland’s closing Six Nations match against England.
O’Mahony has spent the last 18 months battling persistent knee problems, but has enjoyed a resurgence since the end of the season.
That was all kick-started when Jamie Heaslip suffered a back injury in the warm-up to the March 18 clash with England in Dublin. The Aviva Stadium crowd cheered loudly when the announcer revealed O’Mahony would replace the injured Heaslip in Ireland’s starting line-up.
Joe Schmidt’s men went on to dispatch England 13-9, denying the visitors a second straight grand slam and ending their record-winning run at 18 games. And O’Mahony excelled throughout that feisty win for the Irish.
The pack that suffocated the runaway Super Rugby leaders the Crusaders 12-3 in Christchurch starts the first Test, with Warburton primed to join the fray from the bench.
Gatland hailed his starting looseforward trio for excelling across the tour so far.
“It’s a reward for how the back row has gone,” said Gatland.
“There is a nice balance there while Peter captained the side against the Maori All Blacks and has done a good job.”
Halfpenny’s omission from the starting XV suggests that fly-half Owen Farrell will kick at goal, though Wasps star Daly boasts a strong long-range kicking option.
Daly’s strong showing in the 36-4 win over the Chiefs on Tuesday night appears to have swayed Gatland’s mind to start him for the first Test, with Saracens-bound Williams also having impressed in Hamilton at full-back.
“Elliot has been very accurate in the
way he has played and we saw some excellent attacking play from Liam on Tuesday night,” said Gatland.
“We are excited about the 15 that take the field but also the very strong and experienced bench players who will have an impact.”
New Zealand head coach Steve Hansen has recalled fit-again captain Kieran Read and centre Ryan Crotty for Saturday’s Test, while in a surprise move he has replaced experienced wing Julian Savea with 20-year-old Rieko Ioane.
Crusaders No 8 Read last played more than seven weeks ago, when he suffered a broken thumb on Super Rugby duty.
But he is now fit to pack down in the All Blacks’ back-row alongside Jerome Kaino and Sam Cane as New Zealand look to extend their long unbeaten run at Eden Park.
Elsewhere, World Cup winner Sonny Bill Williams partners Crotty in midfield, with Crotty replacing Anton Lienert-Brown following last week’s 78-0 victory over Samoa.
And it will be the third time that Ioane has faced the Lions this month, having starred for the Blues against them before lining up in Maori colours last weekend. He now makes a first Test start on his third All Blacks appearance.
“There is a real understanding that this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Hansen said.