'What he’s given to this club is nothing short of incredible'

Peter O’Mahony’s contribution to Munster has been hailed as “nothing short of incredible” in the wake of his fairytale farewell to Thomond Park.

With his final touch of the ball on his final appearance at the Limerick ground, the retiring flanker scored a spectacular try to help his beloved province secure a crucial 38-20 bonus point victory over Ulster.

Just before the hour mark, the 35-year-old leapt high in the air to take a Jack Crowley cross kick on the bounce before slamming the ball into the turf.

That sparked a jubilant celebration with O’Mahony hurling the ball skyward before being mobbed by his team-mates.

Then, a couple of minutes later, he received a standing ovation from the packed 17,684 crowd as he left the field for the final time. It was some moment.

United Rugby Championship

P

W

L

D

PF

PA

PD

BP T

BP-7

BP

Total

1

Leinster

17

15

2

0

72

2

Bulls

17

13

4

0

63

3

Glasgow

17

11

6

0

59

4

Sharks

17

12

5

0

58

5

Stormers

17

9

8

0

50

6

Scarlets

17

9

7

1

48

7

Benetton

17

9

7

1

46

8

Munster

17

8

9

0

46

9

Cardiff Rugby

17

8

8

1

46

10

Edinburgh

17

7

9

1

44

11

Ospreys

17

7

9

1

38

12

Ulster

17

7

10

0

38

13

Lions

17

7

10

0

35

14

Connacht

17

5

12

0

35

15

Zebre

17

5

11

1

29

16

Dragons RFC

17

1

16

0

9

Speaking about O’Mahony after the game, Munster skipper Tadgh Beirne said: “You can’t put into words how much of a legend Pete is to this club and you could see that from the emotion of the crowd when he scored that try, when he came off and every time he came on the screen.

“He was Munster captain for over ten years. What he’s given to this club is nothing short of incredible.

“So, for him to top his last game at Thomond Park with a try is a lovely touch for him. You could see the emotion from him after he scored it and I’m just delighted for him.”

There were also final Thomond Park appearances for scrum-half Conor Murray and prop Stephen Archer, with Murray leaving to pursue a playing opportunity abroad and Munster’s record cap holder Archer joining O’Mahony in hanging up his boots at the end of the season.

They signed off by sharing in a six-try triumph which has left the province eighth in the URC table, putting them back on course for the play-offs with a huge game against seventh-placed Benetton to come in Cork next Friday.

Coach Ian Costello said: “That’s our best performance for a long time and you could see how much it meant to the lads.

“You’ve obviously got the play-offs, you have got Champions Cup, but it was probably even a bit deeper, to give the lads the send off they deserved and show them that respect.

“I think everything came out in that performance to honour the boys and make sure they had a really good send off. Huge credit to the lads for the way they went about it.

“We also have to acknowledge the crowd. It was an unbelievable atmosphere. When Peter scored his try and the singing when the lads were digging in, I thought the crowd really responded and that was pretty special.”

Looking ahead, he said: “Now we’ve got to back it up next weekend in front of a full house in Cork.

“This was one game, but we knew we needed to win two. We have half the job done, we are pleased with that, but we won’t rest.

“We have to finish the job in Cork next week so we are in the play-offs.”

Second row Beirne, who scored one of his team’s tries as he celebrated his Britsh & Irish Lions selection, added: “We want to be in Europe and we want to be knock-out rugby come the end of the season.

“We have another huge game next week back in Cork against Benetton.

“We need to win every game going forward now. We will use this as a stepping stone. Our performances are going to have to keep getting better and better if we want to go all the way.

“We have sent off the lads from Thomond Park and we will give them another send off from Cork next week.”

Ulster coach Richie Murphy said: “Full credit has to go to Munster, they put us under a lot of pressure and we didn’t look after the ball well enough.

“It’s massively disappointing for us. It means playing Challenge Cup next season, so that’s where we are at and we move on from there.”