At first glance, Peter O’Mahony’s rise to the British & Irish Lions Test captaincy provides an irresistible narrative. But for Jamie Heaslip’s ankle injury only hours before Ireland’s match against England in March, so the story goes, O’Mahony would not even have made the squad, yet three months later he is leading the Lions against the All Blacks at Eden Park.
As irresistible as it is, however, elements do not quite ring true. As much as Six Nations form determines selection for a Lions squad, there was an inevitability that George Kruis would emerge as Warren Gatland’s most integral lock despite missing the championship in its entirety. And by the same token, it is likely that O’Mahony would have been on the plane regardless of Heaslip’s misfortune – Graham Rowntree effectively said as much this week.
For O’Mahony is the archetypal Gatland player. Eddie Jones talks about Chris Robshaw as his “glue player” for England, and it is easy to see O’Mahony performing the same role for the Lions. Gatland has spoken of the “Munster mongrel” in O’Mahony, which translates as a certain type of toughness, a raging competitive spirit once embodied by O’Mahony’s former captain Paul O’Connell. During the first Lions Test in Australia four years ago, O’Connell broke his arm but played on until the final whistle, and O’Mahony is cut from the same cloth.
He can play too. Gatland’s go-to man at blindside flanker in his most successful days in charge of Wales was Dan Lydiate and there are parallels there, as well as with Robshaw. O’Mahony will tackle all day, just as Lydiate does, but he is better over the ball and excels at the lineout. During Ireland’s Six Nations defeat by Wales, O’Connell lauded O’Mahony as “the best back-row lineout jumper in Europe” – a billing he lived up to in the closing stages against England in Dublin. He is not renowned for his pace but he is no slouch either, having played half of Ireland’s 2013 defeat by Italy on the wing, such were the number of injuries suffered.
In recent years O’Mahony has suffered his fair share of those – he has had long-term shoulder trouble in the past while knee ligament damage sustained at the 2015 World Cup led to 12 months on the sidelines. Further niggling injuries kept him out of the autumn internationals and largely on the bench during the Six Nations. He is, as a result, strong of character – as demonstrated by the dignity shown after the tragic death of his coach, mentor and hero Anthony “Axel” Foley last October. “You would hope he would be proud,” said O’Mahony this week, in his typically understated way.
But if the picture becomes clearer as to why O’Mahony starts in Gatland’s XV ahead of Sam Warburton and CJ Stander, it still appears a rapid ascension to the captaincy. His coaches have, however, been shedding some light this week. Rowntree said: “You need guys who can flick in and out of intensity. Off the field you don’t see him growling at people in the dining room.” Rob Howley echoes those sentiments. “There are leaders who lead in the shadows, who are very quiet, honest and lead by actions.”
There is a school of thought that suggests O’Mahony does not have the same gravitas as the All Blacks captain, Kieran Read. That Read, Aaron Smith, Sam Cane et al will exert greater influence over Saturday’s referee Jaco Peyper. The counterargument, however, is that O’Mahony assumed the role with gusto against the Maori All Blacks last Saturday when Peyper was in charge and while the Lions gave away a string of needless penalties in the first half, they conceded none in the second. As Howley says, he leads with quiet authority but as Rowntree alludes to, he can flick the emotional switch in a way Warburton rarely does.
In 2013 he became Ireland’s youngest captain since Brian O’Driscoll and the three occasions he has led his country have resulted in three victories. He has also captained every team he has played for, and that includes Munster Under-20s, a side previously coached by Foley.
Back in October, O’Mahony fought back the tears when fondly recalling: “The first game that he coached me was with Munster for an under-20s game. We won it 3-0 … that suited Axel as good as if we had beaten them by 60 or 70 points.”
O’Mahony’s approach on Saturday will be no different, and perhaps that is the best way to explain why he is Lions captain.
