O’Mahony primed to lead Lions
Peter O’Mahony, the Ireland flanker, has emerged as the leading contender to captain the British and Irish Lions in the opening test match against the All Blacks on Saturday.
O’Mahony looked to have sealed his place in the starting back row to face New Zealand at Eden Park in Auckland after captaining the Lions to an impressive victory over New Zealand Maori in Rotorua last Saturday.
He now seems set to lead the side with Lions tour captain Sam Warburton struggling to displace Sean O’Brien at openside flanker.
Alun Wyn Jones, who led the Lions to victory in the decisive third test in Australia four years ago, was expected to be the likely replacement if Warburton failed to regain his place but the lock is now also unlikely to start because of the exceptional form of George Kruis and Maro Itoje.
That means O’Mahony is the clear favourite to be captain, and he received significant support when assistant coach Andy Farrell said he would be ‘‘more than comfortable’’ if the 27-year-old Cork man was given the job.
‘‘To be honest, it would be the easiest team to captain because there are so many leaders out there,’’ Farrell said on Monday. ‘‘What the guys who have captained the side have realised is they don’t have to be vocal all the time, because there’s always people that’s helping them out.’’
Warren Gatland, the Lions head coach, is thought to have been impressed by O’Mahony’s ‘‘Munster mongrel’’ spirit during the tour, and it may be enough to earn the flanker the nod - despite the fact that he has captained Ireland only three times, and never against top-level opposition.
‘‘It’s not something you can quantify what Munster bring to a game,’’ Gatland said when he named O’Mahony to lead the Lions against the Maori. ‘‘It’s a special pride ... being able to dig deep and bring performances from places where individuals and collectively people often can’t do. That’s what Peter will bring to the team.’’
There remains an outside chance that Warburton - who has struggled with knee and ankle injuries in recent months - may yet regain his place, possibly even in O’Mahony’s position at six, given O’Brien’s outstanding form against the Maori.
Owen Farrell, who will start at first five-eighth after shaking off his quad injury, could also come under consideration for the captaincy but with no experience of the role on the test stage, Gatland may decide the Saracens pivot already has enough responsibility in running the game without being burdened with leadership duties.