Over the course of his career, Peter O’Mahony established himself as a genuine leader in both the Munster and Ireland dressing rooms.
The Cork man was a brilliant motivator, something that was a vital asset to have in the squad. He also backed up that talk with his commitment on the pitch once the whistle blew.
O’Mahony would end his playing career as one of the most respected captains we have seen in Irish rugby. As it turns out, those habits were there right from the start of his time with Munster.
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O’Callaghan Reveals Threat He Got From Young Peter O’Mahony At Munster
Peter O’Mahony made his first Munster appearance midway through the 2009/10 season, although he made a big impact on some in the province’s dressing room well before that debut.
The back row had been part of the Ireland team that took part in the IRB Junior World Championship in Japan in the summer of 2009, meaning he and a few of his teammates were late arrivals to Munster’s pre-season training.
Speaking on The Offload podcast, Donncha O’Callaghan recalled how this dynamic led to an early run-in with a young Peter OMahony, something the then Ireland lock was certainly taken aback by.
We were into our pre-season and they had come back a little bit late.
I don’t know who was taking the fitness session on the back pitch in UL, but they said that the senior lads were going to do 12 (runs), and because the academy kids are only back on the first week they were only going to do six.
We got it all done, whistle blows on rep six and they said ‘we will wrap it there, well done to the academy’. As the boys went to walk off I was just being a bit of a bollocks and gave the ‘I wouldn’t walk off if I was a 19 or 20-year old if there are senior lads still working here’.
Pete grabbed the six or seven lads, pulled them into a little huddle, and they all got on the line. They ran every rep and we did all 12.
There was an unbelievable buzz afterwards, everyone was pumping the wheels, ‘this is what it takes to push on’.
We’re walking into the dressing room after the brilliant session and I just got an arm around my shoulder. Honestly, it was like Hagrid. There’s Pete about 19 years of age. At the time I had won about 50 caps for Ireland and won two European Cups.
He looked me square in the eyes and said ‘we’re following a return to play protocol and you jeopardised that this morning, if any of my lads pull up with a hamstring or a calf, I’m going to break your jaw’.
That sort of leadership is something that Peter O’Mahony would display on countless occasions during the years that followed, although it is certainly interesting to hear that it was present so early on.
It certainly proved to be quite the asset for Munster and Ireland over the course of his career.
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