Class of 2024 is best Irish team I’ve played in
Skipper O’Mahony hails his side as they face England with eyes on title success
PETER O’Mahony believes Ireland’s current team is the best he has ever played in ahead of their pivotal Six Nations showdown with England today.
Andy Farrell’s men will run out at Twickenham as overwhelming favourites and have the chance to retain the championship title with a round to spare.
Captain O’Mahony has lined up alongside the likes of Brian O’Driscoll, Paul O’Connell and Johnny Sexton during his Test career, but feels the class of 2024 is arguably the greatest Irish side of that period.
‘Look, I’ve been lucky to play with lots of good players and teams,’ said the Munster flanker, who will win his 104th cap in south-west London.
‘If I had to nail the colours to the mast, I’d have to say yes.
‘It’s hard to compare because rugby has moved on and the game is different, but in a short answer, I think it is.
‘I think the quality of player, it’s a really, really healthy, good, thought-provoking, enjoyable environment, but obviously the quality of performance and results speaks for itself.
‘Hard to compare but yeah, it’s certainly up there anyway.’
Ireland have triumphed in each of the past four meetings with England and will set a new championship record of 12 consecutive wins by extending that run this evening.
Doing so with a bonus-point will be sufficient to clinch the title, while the extra point would not be required if Scotland fail to beat Italy and score at least four tries earlier in the day.
World Cup semi-finalists England, who are priced at 4-1 to win by bookmakers, are still striving for consistency under head coach Steve Borthwick.
Yet O’Mahony warned Ireland’s pursuit of successive Grand
Slams could easily be derailed as he dismissed the significance of the pre-match predictions.
‘It’s not something that we really buy in to,’ the 34-year-old said of the favourites tag.
‘I know you’re probably sick of hearing it from me, but it’s a Test match tomorrow, Ireland versus England. It’s about who plays better tomorrow. It’s not about anything else.
‘It’s not about previous form or where you stand, it’s about who plays better tomorrow and that’s something that we’ve always been focused on, our performance.
‘We know if we play well tomorrow we’ll be in with a shout. But if we don’t fire this English team has incredible quality and can beat anyone on their day.
‘It’s not long ago they were competing in the last two games of the World Cup. We know we’re in for a huge test tomorrow here at Twickenham as always.’
Indeed, England captain Jamie George has warned Ireland that his team are ready to ‘defend our home’ this evening.
George’s side have been licking their wounds after a comprehensive defeat by Scotland at Murrayfield that leaves them facing another championship of underachievement.
Victory over Ireland would be the highlight of Steve Borthwick’s 20 matches in charge and George believes the Twickenham factor will level the playing field.
‘We believe that we’re going to win. We don’t want anyone, any opposition, to come to Twickenham and have an easy ride,’ England’s captain said.
‘We have respect for them. I can’t emphasise enough how much respect we have for Andy Farrell and Peter O’Mahony’s team. They’ve got brilliant players across the board.
‘But this is England. This is Twickenham. This is home. And we’re going to defend our home, like every Englishman would.
‘Ireland have got to come and get the result here. And we’re a team that’s hurting off the back of the Scotland result, hugely motivated and hugely excited about the potential of where we can go. It’s about time we put that out in the field.’
Ireland have compiled an impressive record over the last two years, winning 23 out of 25 Tests and losing only to New Zealand and France.
Borthwick described them as the best team in the world on current form, surpassing even South Africa who retained the Webb Ellis Trophy last autumn.
England appear to have only a puncher’s chance of causing an upset, but George insists his side thrive as underdogs even if it is a tag they want to shed.
‘I think historically it has worked well for us,’ the Saracens hooker said.
‘If you look at the World Cup just gone, no one gave us a chance against Argentina, no one gave us a chance against South Africa.
‘I know the South Africa result did not go the way we wanted it to but the sort of performance showed the sort of team that we wanted to be.
‘Fundamentally, we don’t want to go in with an underdog title ever when we’re playing at Twickenham.
‘But at the same time we’re playing against a very, very good team, the best team in the world who we have the utmost respect for.
‘I am not too worried about spoiling their party too much. I want to make sure we get our things right.
‘If we get our things right then we are going to come out on the positive end of the result.
‘That is genuinely what I believe and I have seen some positive signs this week that we are going to be going in the right direction.’